Ambassador
by flying vampire monk
Summary: The Cullen family has always had a wide selection of friends but the new ambassador may be the strangest yet. may change to t later
1. Bedtime Tales

Ambassador

In a mini mansion in the forest of New Hampshire, a young girl was doing everything she could to not go to bed yet. The two year old looked much older, but her parents still wanted to be sure she got plenty of sleep.

"Nessie, you need your sleep. I'm not telling you again. Emmett quit laughing its not helping!" Bella was beside herself with ways to trick her daughter into bed.

"But Momma! I'm not tired!" A look from Edward silenced that complaint. "Can Grandda tell me a bedtime story at least? Please please please??" The young girl turned to Carlisle eyes so big that only the cruel could deny.

Carlisle appeared to think, "Hmmmm, maybe just one. Then you have to go to bed. Doctor's orders."

Carlisle picked up Nessie and carried her to her extravagant bedroom. Pulling the covers back with one hand, he set her in the bed with pillows propping her up. He glanced toward the bookshelf. It was a one of a kind along with everything else in the room. Studiously, Jake had attended his wood-working class and this was his end-of-the-year project. It was eight feet high and four feet wide. Wolves were etched into the flat surfaces. Then, much to Bella's distaste, the walls were pink, along with the carpet and the curtains, the bed linens and Nessie's bath robe. But the bed frame was intricate brass roses that Emmett and Rosalie had worked on together. On the wall was a painting that Nessie herself had done. It was a pink sky above a deep green sea with, yes, the Lock Ness Monster sticking his, erm, her head out.

"So cutie lootie patootie, what story would you like tonight? Beauty and the Beast? Cinderella? The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe?"

"I want to hear a new story Grandda, one that I've never heard before. One from your head, but it needs to be real, not made up. Please?" Nessie inquired with a smile that will one day break hearts.

Carlisle was surprised by this request. No one other than Esme had ever asked. Edward had told her some of the more humorous stories but one that she'd never heard before? That was a tall order. Looking at her books, he was reminded of a friend he had not heard from directly in years, and a smile crept over his face.

"Is it a good one Grandda?" Nessie was expectant.

"Yes it is sweetie. I'll call it Young Grandda and the Not-So-Little Mer-"

"Grandda! It has to be real! Merpeople don't exist!" Nessie shook her head and placed her hand on his cheek. She showed him a picture of him beside a mermaid, then the mermaid poofed out of existence.

"It is a real happening Renesmee. Now let me finish. Its Young Grandda and the Not-So-Little Merman."

"A long time ago, when I was just 40 years old, I lived with Aro, Marcus, and Caius. They were the most civil vampires I had found, and they had an expansive library. I had spent as much time as I could learning about health and how to be a doctor. I was working so hard that I hadn't hunted in weeks. The whole time the 'brothers' would argue their point of feasting on humans, but I would resist them and show that I lived just fine on animal's blood and there was no reason to harm humans. At the end of a long night, Aro called me up to the tower for a conference. But when I reached the top of the tower, they had humans there and were feasting on them. I was infuriated! How could they try to tempt me like this! It was beyond disgraceful, it was shameful! I tore to my room, gathered my belongings, and left without another thought.

"I headed to the coast, where I knew that the locals were having quite a time with a lion terrorizing the village. In no time I was full and over the worst of my anger. Sitting on a cliff over-looking the Mediterranean, I saw a young girl who had been to the local healer with her mother a few weeks before. She was out swimming in the moonlight. As I watched her, I noticed three sea creatures rushing towards her. Two looked like serpents, the other looked like a fish, but I was certain my eyes were fooling me. Certainly he didn't have the torso of a man and the trunk of a fish. There was no way. Then the serpents had reached the young girl. Without really thinking, I jumped from the cliff into the sea, swimming faster than I ever had before. I was at the beasts in seconds, and there saw that, yes, the third creature was indeed half human half fish. I grabbed onto the closest serpent and began squeezing with all my might. I just hoped that it would work. Sadly, the beast wiggled out of my grasp, and wrapped his tail around me. I began struggling with it, and happened to see the young Mer, who must have already known what I was, trapped in the same manner. But he was acting like he was biting the serpent. Then he said 'Do what you must to stop him, or they will kill the human.' So I bit the beast instantly wishing that I hadn't. That blood was the most disgusting I had ever and will ever taste! It was as if I was drinking gasoline, though I think that would taste better. As soon as my beast was dead I swam over to the young man, and helped free him. Only to be pushed out of the way and threatened!

"He armed himself with a staff that looked strangely like a pitchfork, and prodded me to the beach. Once there, he lost his fins, gained legs, and said 'If you set foot in this water again I will have no choice but to kill you!'"

"Oh no Grandda! How did you get out? Did he kill you?" Nessie's eyes had grown to saucer plates, and she was sitting straight up in bed.

Carlisle chuckled. "No he didn't kill me. How could I be here if he killed me? Now can I get back to the story?" Nessie settled down immediately and lifted her hands to her ears as if unlocking them.

"In response to his threat, I asked his name. 'Why do you want to know my name?' he asked taken aback.

'Because, I was taught that any time you fight towards the same cause you should know the name of your ally. My name is Carlisle. Now you tell me yours and we shake hands.'

'I know how to make an introduction! I was raised in the royal house hold of Eric and Ariel of Spain! (**AN: I do not know if this is were Eric was prince or not, but it is mostly surrounded by coast which is what I want****J) My name is Habakkuk.' The two of us shook hands and sat down.**

'**I have a question for you Carl-isle, why are your eyes a different color from other vampires?'**

"**I laughed and laughed and laughed! I told him a limerick that I do believe his people still use today. 'Yellow eyes, good at heart, red eyes, tear them apart. Black eyes, fast depart.'**

"**And that was a start to a long friendship between two different races. The Vampire and the Mer."**

"**Wow. That's like what daddy and Seth did, right? They became allies for a common cause then became friends in spite of their differences?" Nessie snuggled deeper into her covers as questions kept coming to mind.**

"**Yes Nessie that's almost the same thing, how smart you are to pick that out! Now we have time for only one more question." Carlisle said wondering what in the world his little only granddaughter would come out with next.**

"**Hmmm, Have you ever met any other Mer?" her eyes started drooping gradually.**

"**Yes sweetie, but that's a story for another night."**

**Carlisle kissed her on the forehead and left the room. As he walked back to the den, he thought over all the different times that Habakkuk had come through for him. He had a whole slew of stories for his grandbaby.**

"**No! This can't be happening! NO!" Alice wasn't even in the house and yet they all heard her scream.**


	2. Sudden Changes

Chapter Two

Tobi was very frustrated with her cousin. It had already been half an hour and she was still in the shower.

"Kelly! You know that you're wasting water! I mean come on! This is so uncalled for! It's not even your house!" Tobi screamed through the door.

"Tobs! It's my house ya silly goose! And I'm getting out!" Kelly yelled back.

_Now I'm heels over head, I'm hanging upside down._

"Kells answer your phone!"

_Thinking how you left me for dead, California bound._

"Will you get it? It's not like I can ya know."

_And when you hit the coast…_

"No it's your phone. Don't feel like it, you get it."

"URGH! Fine could you at least hand it to me?" Kelly walked out of her bathroom heading toward the bedroom, still just wrapped in a towel. It was a nice fluffy long towel that just happened to have Pocahontas on it. Well when your 5'10" sometimes you just have to use a beach towel.

_I hope you think of me…_

"Hello? What? Slow down, what are you saying?" Kelly answered her phone but had a hard time understanding the other person.

"And now I'm stuck here with the ghost of what we used to be!" Tobi, forever a fan of boys like girls, had to finish the phrase.

"Tobs! I'm on the phone! Back off! What I'm sorry, SOMEONE just had to sing in my ear. Now start at the beginning? What? Why? Now? I can't leave now, my cousin is here. Take her with me? Everyone said you're insane, but now I agree. FIFTEEN MINUTES? I just got out of the shower I can't leave in fifteen minutes. Yeah I guess, couldn't I just, oh I guess that would happen, okay fine, you said to go to Indiana? You have a car for me there; you made sure that it doesn't have any tracking devices? Okay, I'll call you when I get there. Thanks bye."

Kelly quickly rushed around the room dressing, and gathering papers. Tobi just stared at her humming heels over head. The room was small so Kelly had to move Tobi every now and then.

"Tobi, I need you to put on these clothes and boots. And please tell me that you have your school I.D. We are going to go on a little trip. I really need you to hurry sweetie and fix an overnight bag and your purse?"

"Pushy, pushy, pushy. Where we going?" Well at least Tobi was putting the clothes on.

"Ummmm, away for right now. I was informed of a situation that would be rather detrimental to our health. And so now we must leave. You have your school I.D.?" Kelly grabbed up her purse and double checked that her driver's license was in there. She then went to the closet and snagged another purse and shoved more blank I.D. cards, cash, and a wicked looking knife as she hurried from the room.

"Yeah, um, why?" Tobi picked up her purse and overnight bag, and then started humming again.

"I'm going to need it later. Head to the car I'll be out there in just a minute. WHERE, WHERE, WHERE is it? Why can't it be where I put it last? Oh quit staring and get in the car!" Kelly found her 'chop stick' and put her hair up using it.

Tobi rushed out to the car and settled in. Boy she had one strange cousin. "Na na na na na na na na batman." Singing always made things better.

Finally Kelly made it out to the car fifteen minutes after the phone call. With their phones, bags and other small personal belongings, they set out driving East. Tobi was kinda off in her world but she noticed how fast everything seemed to be going by. Surprising, because Kelly always talked about not liking to drive fast. As she looked at the speedometer, Kelly started talking.

"I'm sorry, Tobs. You don't know how sorry I am. I would have left you but my, um, friend said that if I left you, you would die, and I couldn't let that happen to you. I can't handle another death. I need you to think about what kind of hair style you would like to have along with the color and another name. We can't go back. Ever." Kelly stopped to take a breath.

"Oh my gosh, can you shut up for one minute please and slooooow dooooown! Me thinks someone needs a cookie! And his name is Teddy the hippo!" Tobi drawled out, excitedly, if that is even possible.

"I tell you that we can't go back home to see our families ever again, and you ask for a cookie? You are unbelievable. And I am not slowing down. We have many miles to go and few hours to get there!" Kelly decided however to slow down seeing that she was within walking distance of her stash. Slowing to a stop, Kelly burst out of the car.

"Okay Tobi, out of the car. Do you want me to cut my hair first or yours?" Tobi hopped out of the car and Kelly pulled out her knife.

Kelly couldn't have pulled off to a more secluded place. There was a gorge off to the left of the road and a mountain, erm, rather a small hill, going up to the right. Green everywhere you looked, but no sign of any other cars, houses, sentient creatures, viable life forms, anywhere in sight. Just green. It would have been peaceful, if Kelly had been calmer.

She hated what she was doing not only to her and Tobi's lives, but to the lives of their families, they would just think that it had been a car crash. No one would know any better. A car driven by a teen goes to fast over the edge into the gorge. Just their I.D's and some hair would be all that made it out of the car. The rest would be burned to a crisp, because, really who would be driving by this particular road anytime soon?

"Can I get purple highlights? I really don't care about who gets the hair cut first."

"Okay. I'll go first then. The highlights will come later. I don't care about what color it is." Kelly pulled the 'chop-stick' out of her hair and pulled it back up into a low pony tail. "And Tobi? If you would please call me Even, from now on. And if you don't have a new alias for yourself I'll need it in an hour."

Even, as we must now call her, opened up her knife, and proceeded to cut off her pony. As the blade worked on her hair, she plotted on how best to arrange the car. Should she just push it off the side of the hill, or drive it off and jump out as it flew from the road? Jumping out of it sounded like more fun, but she hadn't done anything like that in at least a year.

"Kelsie."

"Hmmm?"

"I want my name to be Kelsie. Kelsie Noel. And I want my ponytail to sit lower than you had yours, that way I have longer hair, though, if you want to cut it all different lengths I wouldn't mind." Kelsie started pulling her hair back and walking towards Even.

"Okay Kelsie."Even smiled. "Jagged cut means no pony, and I'll try not to go too short. Sorry for all of this." Even worked on the hair and finished in record time. It wasn't the best hair cut in the world, but it would do. "Now move aside, and whatever you do, do not run towards the car. I am going to drive it off the cliff."

"I like my hair, but wouldn't it be easier just to push it off the cliff instead? And can we stop at Starbucks, because I would really, really, really like a double chocolate chip frap and a cookie. Though we would need three cookies; one for you, one for me and one for Teddy. And I promise that I won't not steal Teddy's cookie and not split it with you."

"Will you help me push the car off then?" Even put the car in neutral and grabbed her other purse and Teddy, the hippo, out of the car.

"Okaaay, if it means we get the cookies faster."

The two teens pushed the car off the ledge and it rolled down.

"Well that was dissatisfying. I really expected it to blow up. Guess I'll have to use some tricks after all." Even proclaimed as she rummaged through her purse.

"Blowing it up would have been pretty cool, why did we do that again?" Kelsie looked at Even questioningly.

"Because if our car is found in flames or burnt to a crisp, with our hair scattered around, along with our I.D.s," Even tossed the ponytails, and the I.D. cards after the car. "It will mean that our families find closure faster, and ease my guilt of hurting them this way. Okay?" Even pulled out her 'chop-stick' and it grew. It extended until it was about four feet long, then the tip split into thirds and points grew from the top of all three prongs. It was a custom made, especially for Even, by Even. It could do whatever she needed it to. So in this case, a stream of fire came out the tips when she pointed it at the car, and the car proceeded to burst into flames.

"That wasn't strange or unusual at all. I hope you aren't expecting me to walk to Starbucks." Kelsie stated after staring for a moment.

"Haha! No we aren't walking to Starbucks; we are however walking to that cave over there. I have a car stashed there. But we aren't stopping until we get out of state. I do believe I have some explaining to do."

With that, they walked to the nearby cave, climbed in the car, and set off driving.

"Now, about that back there. Um, well, that stick that randomly grew is called a triton. It's highly powerful, very, very, dangerous weapon. The only way that you are allowed to touch it is if you have gloves on, or some kind cloth covering your hands. Otherwise you will be burned, shocked and otherwise incapasitated. I am not what most people would call, um, well, er, human. I come from a long line of what is most commonly known as Mer-people, though most people don't realize that mermaids need mermen. But that is beside the point. We don't have to be in water all the time. When we are out of the water, we have legs, and once you're older, you have more of a conscious decision over whether or not you have fins in the water. It's-What?" Kelsie had her hand raised.

"Are you still my cousin? Or when your brothers said that you were adopted did they mean it?" Kelsie looked rather confused. It was a common look for her.

"Yes I'm still your cousin. I'm not adopted. My dad was though. It's through his line that I am mer. There was some upset when he was younger and he chose to live on land. Then he met mom and when her family all loved to be in the water, he claimed to fear, or have a strong respect, for the water. Which was true, because he does respect the water. We all do. And no, he doesn't know that I know his background. Any other questions?" Even kept her eyes on the road afraid of what her cousin might think.

"Why did you decide to call yourself Even?" The name confused Kelsie, if she didn't like Ever why would she like Even?

"It's my Mer-name. It is common place for the grandparent to give the middle name, but my parents gave me one because of lack of communication between my parents and grandparents. But every Mer has an alias that is used in the Mer-world, so my grandparents chose Even for me. You can only use a name that hasn't been used before by someone in the clan, or if the name sake has died. So like I couldn't be named Hannah because that is my grandmother's name. But I could name my child Ariel because she was my great-grandmother and she passed on last year. Any other questions?" Even was very worried that Kelsie was going to start freaking out. If Kelsie did, then Even would have to sedate her. She couldn't lose track of Kelsie, it might result in their combined deaths.

"Under the sea, under the sea, darlin' it's better down where its wetter take it from me."

"Is that all that you're going to say? You aren't worried about the fact that I'm not human, the fact that I have killed before, the fact that I have been sneaking out of my house at night since the age of ten? The fact that right now I'm taking you to a place that you don't know to people you've never met, that we can't go back home ever again because then our families might die? I mean, come on Kelsie!" Even's voice grew and grew in volume until it took over all other sounds in the car.

"Well you didn't say all that the last time," Kelsie said quietly, and very scared.

They drove on in almost silence for awhile. Kelsie was still singing songs from The Little Mermaid under her breath; afraid to sing out loud in case Even would be enraged again. They saw all the different scenes pass by them too quickly. The hills, the valleys, the straight stretches that seem to go on forever as they made their way to safety. Twice Even slowed down to the speed limit when she saw police officers ahead, but they never looked twice at the sleek black car.

Finally Even saw those tale-tale signs of green. Gas stations at this exit. Yupp, need gas. Food, McDonalds, yuck, Sonic, good, Taco Bell, better, Starbucks, Score! Just what they were looking for. Plus there were several drug stores and hotels nearby. They needed to change hair color before making new I.D.s. They'd get the fraps first, and then run in to get the hair color. It was late enough that they could rent a hotel room, pay with cash, and get out early the next morning.

"Hey Kelsie! Wake up sleepy head. We're half way there and we can get that Starbucks now, along with some supper. Which do you want first?" Even gently shook her younger cousin awake as she entered the exit ramp.

"I don't care. Whatever you want to do." The blonde let out a head-splitting yawn.

"Okay, what do you say to drive thru Taco Bell then Drive thru Starbucks? Then we get some hair color, and a hotel room. Then we will eat, color our hair, and go to bed!" Even explained then headed to Taco Bell.

"Hey, who are these friends of yours that we're going to stay with? Are they nice? Or really, really weird?" Kelsie said sleepily, still looking somewhat confused.

"Well, they are nice, weird, and very, very funny. You know the Twilight books? Of course you do. Well, they are fictionalized accounts of actual events. We are going to stay with the Cullen's."

333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

It was about five in the morning, and Even's internal alarm went off. After six years of training, she had the warrior's ability to wake whenever she wanted to quietly. Though considering the fact that she thought she had over-slept, it was not a quiet awakening.

"Yah! What? Huh! What's going on? What time is it?" Even looked at the clock. "Oh, feew! Its only 5. Good." Even hopped out of bed and pulled on her jeans. Just a tee-shirt will do for today. She walked to the bathroom and received a shock when her hair was gone and red.

"Kelsie! Wakeup sleepy head! We have to get a move on if we want to make it to the Cullen's by lunch. Dress comfortably. I want to stop as little as possible. Oh and here is your new I.D. Congratulations. You've had two birthdays while you slept. You are now sixteen. Oh my word, I need caffeine. Okay another stop at Starbucks and we are off." Even was a firm believer in the old adage. Fake it 'til you make it.

Kelsie slowly climbed out of the bed. Head hunched over, fists rubbing eyes. She looked as if someone had poured melted crayons, well just the purple, red and black ones, all over her hair. But it was how she wanted it. She went to the bathroom to change. Even had on a pair of faded flair cut jeans, a black with gold lettering I'm-a-freak-'cause-I-wanna- be tee-shirt, and a pair of army boots. Even pulled the sheets off her bed and shoved them back into the bag. They were her sheets. She was O.C.D. what type of sheets she stayed on, and what clothes she wore. It was crazy.

"So who are we really staying with?" Kelsie questioned.

"The Cullen's. You know Carlisle, Esme, the whole gang. Why, do you not believe me?" Even remade the hotel bed with the hotel sheets. And made sure that the hair color bottles were in the trash can.

"Yes I believe you. Why did you change the sheets on the bed?" Kelsie shoved her teddy, erm, hippo into her bag along with her night clothes.

"Because I can sense the memories in those sheets and DID NOT want to sleep on those awful things."

"No really, why?"

"Oh, just follow me to the car. We are taking one that Alice left for us."

They walked out of the room, bags in tow, out towards a nice, shiny new Nissan Z. Even's dream car. It was beautiful. Dark, almost black windows, silver body, and four fully functional hubcaps. That won't randomly decide to pop off because Rosalie had been working on the car.

"Oh my gosh! We get to take that? Sweet! I love you, Alice I really, really, really, really do! Yippie!" Even rushed over to the car and rubbed her hand over the side. She saw Alice doing the same, and sticking a key under the bottom of the trunk. Reaching down, Even felt until she found the small box and pulled out a Twilight key ring that held a car key, house key and a mini flashlight. Kelsie just stared at the car.

"Are you sure about this? Because that is a really nice looking car, and we already have one." Kelsie inched her way over.

"Yes I'm sure sweetie. See, Alice left us a key. Now I just need to call her." Even opened the trunk and pulled out two drop phones and dropped their luggage in.

_This time we're not giving up. Let's make it last forever. Screaming Hallelujah!_

"Hello its Alice's phone! This is Jasper speaking."

"Good morning Jazz. Where's Alice I kinda need to speak to her. About the car and everything."

"Oh okay, Alice! Telephone!"

In the background Alice was heard to say, "I already knew that it was for me. I mean I've been waiting for this call for a while Jazz."

"Even are you really talking to the Alice Cullen? I don't believe you." Kelsie struck her classic I don't care what you say I won't believe you, you are full of yourself pose.

"Yes, well not exactly yet. She's coming to the phone. Now please no more interruptions. Hey Alice!" Even addressed her good friend.

"Hey Even. You're leaving the hotel? Because if you are then the car has the memory of how to get here. And there are some clothes for you and Kelsie. Love the name by the way and if you dare put the painter's style dress on with those flaired jeans that you have an obsession with I will kill you then bring you back to life to teach you a lesson in fashion."

"Fine Alice I won't. We'll be there in, well you know. Will I run into any cops? Will my I.D.s hold up?"

"Yes to the first and no to the second you'll have to fudge your way through it. Sorry. Got to go. Have a fun road trip!"

The cousins climbed in the car and started off. Again they drove past some amazingly sights. Past rivers and mountains they went. Over bridges and under tunnels. With so many miles to travel, Even bumped up the speed little by little until she was going well over a hundred miles an hour. Now was the real test. The blue and red lights flashed and sirens blared. Even looked over her shoulder, and the officer pointed her over to the shoulder of the road.

"Dang it. Alice was right. Kelsie hand me my purse please and check the glove box for registration and an insurance card please! And don't say anything." Kelsie pulled out the new I.D. and then searched the glove box. The card and registration had Even Floundar as the owner of the car and insurance.

"Hello ma'am. I need to see license, registration, and proof of insurance." The police officer lowered his sunglasses stared at her until she handed the requested items over with a smile.

"I don't understand just why exactly you pulled me over officer. Could you explain?" Even's smile grew wider as she played up the charm.

"Well you were going about eighty over the speed limit when I clocked you. And this I.D. is a fake. So we will have to go to the police station about this."

Even decided that enough was enough. It was time to turn on the inner siren that most girls wish lied within. She focused on her breathing then smirked. She wasn't at the top of her game, but this poor land-locked soul would have no chance.

"Well sir, see I can't exactly do that. See I have this important meeting that I really must be going." She said innocently with just a slight flirt in her tone. "So you're going to let me go on my merry way, after you give me back my information there."

The officer was so confused by what was happening. He felt compelled to do whatever she said. So he handed back her paperwork, and walked back to his car. The cousins drove off with Kelsie in a state of shock, because her Even drove off at 0 to 60 in about three seconds.

The rest of the way was rather uneventful I am sorry to say. They chatted about training camps, best ways to incapacitate an attacker, and other random topics that would happen to pop in their heads. Kelsie was quite one for laughter. It didn't help that every time that they stopped some form of chocolate was bought. Finally they were just a few minutes away from the Cullen's mansion.

"Now Kelsie, you need to know a few things. These are friends. I am designed to kill them yes, but since my grandfather was named as the first ambassador, we've had a little limerick to help us remember a few key points."

"Will it really matter? If I can't have a real hippo here why should I care about key points? Oh and since I can't get a hippo could I get a giraffe? That would totally make life just so much more enjoyable don't you think? This hot chocolate is just amazing. I think I'll have another if you don't mind. I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves. Did you know that? I really think that I'm hyper. Good think I'm not the one driving because I would be all over the road the way that I'm shaking. Everybody's nerves. Everybody's nerves—" Kelsie was talking so fast and bouncing so vivaciously that Even wanted to curl up in a ball and hide. Alice had never done anything that could match the teen's hyperness.

"Oh fine, I'll tell you later Miss 'I can't be still for two minutes because I don't believe in being calm or quiet.' I want you to be polite and please not stare. These are some wonderfully kind people that have opened up their home to us."

Kelsie started bouncing even more excitedly. "I can't believe just how far north I am. I've never been this far north. Oh look! That hast to be the biggest doggie I've ever seen on the face of the planet. And there is a giant heading this way. He's chasing the doggie."

Even looked over to see none other than Emmett Cullen chasing after what looked to be a shape shifter. Couldn't be a werewolf seeing as the moon was not out. The wolf seemed to be enjoying the chase, though.

'_Emmett you big bear of a man. Why don't you actually put some spunk behind that action you call running. I'm not even pushing myself yet.'_

It was a pity that the tall football player built vampire, wasn't the family member that could read minds. But he did understand the stream of growls and barks that proceeded out of none other than Seth Clearwater.

Finally they made it up to the house. Even carefully climbed up out of the car while Kelsie just stared. It was the tallest mansion she had ever seen. There wasn't that much room for the house to be wide, so it went up about four stories. Five if you counted the attic. And standing at the door, with the TV shining behind the young man, Carlisle Cullen stood to greet the closest thing he had to a niece.


	3. Devistated Heart

AN1: Sorry that I haven't put a disclaimer on my first two chappies. I will this time promise. Want to give a shout out to IcePrincessFireQueen, you rock chick. Her stories are awesome and she just might be able to take over the Meyer's spot one of these days.

Disclaimer: I am not the mother of any of the characters you recognize. Just the unknown ones.  I did disclaim see

AN2: Sorry that I haven't updated in a while… First year college student and all that. I checked and so far I've had about 20 hits. YAY! So, where were we? Oh yeah, Even and Kelsie just arrived at the Cullens house and Carlisle was waiting at the door while Emmett was chasing Seth around the yard… okay here ya go:

Chapter 3: Devastated Heart

Even and Kelsie arrived at the Cullen mansion at the happiest, or saddest, time of day. The journey was long; they had to make more speed adjustments this half of the race. But here they were. Even turned to her cousin still sitting in the car. Kelsie just stared and stared. Even smirked and leaned into the car.

"Kels. Are you going to get out of the car or not? Did you decide to sleep in there or something?" Even chuckled under her breath. She slowly made her way towards her adopted uncle. Carlisle just stood watching her in amazement. She looked completely different since the last time he had seen her, nearly two years ago. Then she had been very lean and tones, with long hair that was a shade too light to really be considered brown. Then her eyes had shown as she approached his steps, now they looked hesitant and filled with regret. No joy was there. The smile on her face stopped with her cheekbones. Carlisle made his way down to her, and embraced her.

"Ah, Even. It's so nice to see you again, even under these circumstances." He held her at arms length trying to gage her health by sight alone.

"Well, Uncle Carlisle, they can't all be weddings and frivolity. I'm glad that Alice called me. I couldn't stand losing my cousin here. If she ever gets out to the car." Even looked back towards the car to see Kelsie jump out and race toward the house.

"Excuse me. Hi I'm Kelsie, do you have a bathroom," Kelsie was doing the unforgettable 'potty-dance'. "'Cause I like really have to go."

Carlisle chuckled. "Of course we do. Take a right at the end of the first hall. Even won't you come inside?" Something was definitely off with the girl. She was very, very reserved, not her typical self at all.

"Okay, let me get my-"

At that moment Alice and Jasper burst out the door. Alice threw her arms around Even's neck and held tight. Jasper patted her back and walked to the car, pushing the trunk open. "I'm just so glad you made it Even! I mean, when I saw Jane killing you, I thought the world was coming to an end. Which reminds me, why would she be coming after you? It's not like you two have history. And she was definitely coming after you. Esme and I have fixed you and your cousin, who has really cute hair by the way, bedrooms. Only she and I have been in there. We know you like things a certain way and--"

"Alice I'm sure whatever you've done is fine. But if you continue talking I won't be able to understand you." She turned to Jasper, and shook his hand. He'd already dropped the bags off in the appropriate rooms. "How are you my fellow southerner?"

"I'm doing just fine ma'am. And yourself? I trust the journey went well?" Their game of southern accents was a way of bringing laughter to the whole family.

"Hey I'm from Mississippi, doesn't that count?" Alice looked from one to the other. Jasper pushed the question off to Even. "No, because you don't remember living there. Jazz does."

Esme, Edward, Bella, Rosalie and Kelsie all walked into the living room from various directions. Kelsie was still staring in wonder, the interior was so extravagant. Some of the paintings were so intricate it looked as if someone had hand painted them out of the faces of the family. The color scheme was complementary shades of tan with accent colors found on fall trees in the Smokies. Rust reds mixed with burnt oranges. The furniture was plush micro fiber couches, loveseats, and E-Z boy chairs. On the wall around which all the furniture was situated, hung the largest Plasma TV that money could buy. Connected to it were all three play stations, an X-box, and the original Nintendo. Laptops were spread around on coffee tables of deep mahogany.

Rosalie dashed to Even and hugged the girl. Even patted her back and held her close. The two had worked well together at Edward and Bella's wedding. "How are you Cousin? Are you tired or can you stay up and chat a while?" Rosalie too noticed that something was not right with the mermaid.

"Hi Rose. I really am quite tired and I know Kelsie is. She kept falling asleep on me. And if she asks you for a giraffe, don't let her have one! She has been plotting to steal one from the zoo and hide it at her grandparents' house." Even pulled Kelsie to her and wrapped her arms around Kelsie's shoulders. "Kelsie, this is Carlisle and his wife Esme," the couples had all stood together minus Emmett, who was still intent on proving to Seth that he could, in fact, catch the young wolf. "And Alice, with her husband Jasper, Edward and Bella, and Rosalie with her husband… Um, is Emmett still outside?" Even finished with a question.

Edward laughed. "An hour ago Bella bet that he couldn't catch Seth. Seth sort of cheated because he has a low tolerance for sugar and had a few cans of Mountain Dew. They won't be back for a few hours. Don't worry Even, we'll let you both sleep and talk in the morning." Edward threw meaningful glances around the room at his family, especially Rose, who would keep Even up all night just to catch up. "If we don't get back to the cottage, Bella, Nessie will be up and into something in no time."

"Nessie?" Even slowly shook her head taking an incredible amount of time to blink. "Okay I am dead on my feet. We'll catch up in the morning. Come on Kels. It's after eleven and I have this feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day." Esme came up to Even then.

"Come dears, I'll show you to your rooms." They went up to the second floor. The rooms were painted in bright, happy blues, greens and reds. The furniture looked new, and it probably was. The floors were carpeted in an incredible soft Berber. "Good night, and I hope you sleep well. The rooms should be sound proof for you. We aren't sure because we can still hear through them. Oh! I almost forgot, what would you like to eat in the morning for breakfast?"

Kelsie looked as if she was asked if she'd like to run for next megalomaniac. Even shook her head. "You know me Esme. I can't decide what sounds good 'til I'm ready to eat. And I think food is a foreign concept to Kels right now. We'll talk in the morning. Good night." They went into their room and shut the door. Quickly they change out of their day clothes and into their pajamas. Fast asleep they fell.

JfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjfjF

"Aw. Come on! Emmett it's ten o'clock, why can't I wake them up now?" Emmett and Rosalie were standing outside of the girls' door. Well, standing isn't really the best description. Emmett had Rose in a bear grip to keep her away from the door. They had started out at the base of the stairs, and when Rosalie made a comment about the time, Emmett began fighting with her using everything in his arsenal to keep her away from the door.

"Rose, baby, you know how humans are. They need sleep. Wasn't that what Edward was always saying? Bella needs sleep, Bella hasn't been sleeping enough lately. They have had a rough couple of days. I would love to have them up too, but a sleepy Even is one thing that I am scared of! That girl can be mean." Rosalie continued to push him down the hall. "You know if you mess up Mom's floors, she is so going to kill you."

"Nope Emmett. I'm waking them up. They have been asleep for over twelve hours. I have who knows how long to catch up for two years. Plus they have to eat and meet Nessie. Alice! Help me! Please!"

"No, they are waking up on their own. You know what Mom and Dad said. They need to sleep. And Nessie wants you to do her hair. She's very insistent, and she won't let me near it. It won't take them long." Alice responded up the stairs.

Rosalie sighed and slowly walked down the stairs to her niece. There was very little that she wouldn't do for Renesmee, such as make-up. That was one thing they all agreed wouldn't happen until she was grown.

Reaching the bottom floor, Rosalie sat on the couch behind where Nessie and Bella were playing Monopoly at a breakneck pace. "How do you want your hair done today Messie-Nessie?"

Nessie glared at her aunt when she mentioned the dreaded nick-name. "I would like it to look very pretty and grown up and not messy for when Jake co-, Jake and the Pack come home."

Rosalie looked at Edward questioningly. _How much trouble will I be in if I do the exact opposite? She is in quite a mood today._ Edward nodded and smirked. His indication that, since Nessie didn't ask, Rose could do what ever she wanted to. She started pulling her fingers through Nessie's mop of copper curls, trying to decide whether or not to do regular pigtails or braided ones. _Shall I do Princess Leia buns?_ Edward could not contain his mirth at that one. One little chuckle slipped through.

All the heads in the room jerked to see what he laughed at then, CLICK! They all looked upstairs at the sound of a door closing, snapping their heads back to Edward for him to explain. Humans would have pinched a nerve trying to move their heads that fast.

Humph. "Even is going to the bathroom and would love for someone to try and stop her. She is not in a good mood yet." Being the liaison in a large family wasn't his favorite thing. "She said that we should probably get Kelsie up before she gets a crick in her neck. And to stop listening to her thoughts. Even, if you weren't so loud in the mornings I could ignore you better."

Esme headed up the stairs to Kelsie's room. She arrived at the door and knocked softly only to hear a grunt from inside. Carefully pushing the door open, Esme crept inside and saw that Kelsie had all the covers in her room piled on top of her. Kelsie grunted again trying to roll over and not succeeding due to the weight of the blankets. Esme sat on the side of the bed and began folding blankets and talking the girl awake.

"Kelsie, sweetie its time to wake up. You've been asleep for quite a while and need to get up for a little bit. I have a fully stocked pantry so anything you want for breakfast we can fix." She was interrupted by a sleepy teen mumbling about hippos. "Okay, I don't have hippos, but I can make hippo-shaped pancakes."

"NO! I will not eat Teddy!!! What is the world coming to!?!" Kelsie shouted then fell back in the bed after sitting straight up.

Even rushed into the room nearly tripping on a bottle of Germ-X. "Kels! Are you okay? Why are you shouting? And why is there Germ-X on the floor?" Even looked Kelsie in the eye. Kelsie frowned and hit her on the head with a pillow. "She asked if I wanted to eat Teddy. OF COURSE I don't want to eat him! You would shout too." Thwap. Another hit with the pillow.

"You hit me with that thing again and I'll make you pay little missy-moo." By this point all of the family was waiting out in the hall knowing that things were about to get good.

THWACK!

GASP!

"That's it! You asked for it." Even lunged for Kelsie fingers out stretched. What occurred next would best be described as an all or nothing pillow/tickle fight. Even was winning. Nessie had never seen a pillow fight, though she had been on the receiving end of tickle-monsters many a time. She was completely enamored with the sight they made.

"NOT NICE! NOT NICE!" Kelsie was squirming and lost her pillow along time ago. "CAN'T BREATHE! KEL—EVEN I CANNOT BREATHE!"

"You sure aren't convincing me of that fact. Now who has won? And if you say Teddy I'm going to tickle you again."

"Fine. Humph. You win. Now can I go pee? Please?" Even let her up and turned to Esme.

"What's this I hear about pancakes?" Even had more life in her eyes than last night, but was still very reserved. "Peanut M&M's like last time? No problem dear."

Rosalie grabbed Even's arm and led her out of the room, down the stairs and out to the patio. The landscaping was gorgeous. Perfectly sculpted bushes were placed around a rock/ flower garden. The different flowers were in perfect health, and grouped so that there wasn't but a plant's worth of color in one spot. The patio furniture was plush. The design was Neo-Romantic with a subtle leaf pattern in a lighter brown than the dark brown background. (AN: I do not know if this is a style but it's a new take on the Roman style of furniture.) Rose led Even to a swing and they both sat down.

"Even, I know something is wrong. Would you please tell me what it is? Last night Edward said that if Bella was using her shield you wouldn't be better protected. Please I'm worried." Rose held Even's hand and stared at her with the utmost concern.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Even began looking more and more tormented. Her lips starting getting blotchy red and her eyelids started tightening. She was fighting off tears. "I guess I wasn't fooling y'all at all, huh? I can't talk about it. Not now. I have to stay strong for Kelsie. She thinks it great being away from her family, but I know that it won't last forever. She's going to regret coming with me. But I couldn't let her die. She is family. You always protect family." Even began shuddering and Rose pulled her into a hug.

"It's going to be okay. You can come to me or anyone of us when you're ready to talk. Okay?" Even nodded. And the two just sat for a while.

Seth was excited. Jake told him last night that Colin and Brady were coming back with the rest of them. And he got to drive Bella's Ferrari. He loved being sixteen. He was parked waiting for the rest of the pack to show up outside the airport. They had left the truck in the long term parking that way no one would have to pick them up. Then the two youngest of Sam's pack had decided to come for a visit, and there wouldn't be enough room in the truck for Jake, Leah, Embry, Quil, Colin and Brady. Thus he got to drive the Ferrari.

He saw his sister first. Leah was letting her hair grow out a little. It was a short bob. Much more flattering than the pixie cut she had had since she phased into the pack. She looked annoyed. Jake was behind her looking smug. Uh-oh. He won a bet. This was going to be a fun week. NOT! Colin and Brady were pushing each other and focusing his attention on their familiar voices, he could tell that they were teasing each other about the flight attendant that apparently had been flirting with them. Embry and Quil brought up the rear. The morose members of the pack. Embry tries to hide the pain of not being with his imprint, Quil just lives with it. He was grateful to be able to move to New Hampshire when Claire's family moved to New York. It wasn't the closest distance, but it was better than across the country.

Jake started looking for him now. Seth got regretfully out of the car and the air-conditioning. He waved them over.

"Hey Boss!" Seth used the epithet knowing Jake hated it.

"For the umpteenth time Seth, I AM NOT LEROY JETHRO GIBBS!!! You cannot call me BOSS!" Jake exclaimed capturing the boy in a head lock. Jake then proceeded to give him a noogy. (AN: Leroy Jethro Gibbs is the boss on NCIS a great show if you have never seen it. And if you don't know what a noogy is, its where you rub your knuckles into someone's head. Not very fun. Especially if you have short hair.)

"Hey! Leah! Help me! This is Child-Abuse! I'm calling Charlie! AAAAHHH!"

Any onlookers would of course think that it was anything but child abuse. Seth looked as if he was 25, same as the rest of the pack. He did manage to elbow Jake in the ribs. Not that it hurt him. But it was enough to make Leah break it up.

"Okay Jake, enough beating my baby brother up." She shoved her alpha away. "So Seth, staying out of trouble? Making life miserable for Emmett?" She wrapped her arms around his waist.

"He now owes me a hundred bucks, Nessie 150, and Bella, Alice, Rose, Jazz, Edward, Carlisle and Esme 350. Bella bet that he couldn't catch me. Everyone ante-upped and Alice had been giving me Mountain Dew's all day so I was really pumped up. We ran for like an hour before he got bored and gave up. And Esme started complaining that we were ruining her lawn." Seth hugged his sister back. He'd missed her, oddly enough.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The entire pack laughed drawing startled stares from passers- by.

"Way to show him Seth!"

"Rock on dude!'

"Okay, Okay. Lets continue this back at home. I, um, am getting a little, er, hungry." Jake actually started to blush.

Snap! That's what picture phones are for!

"Yeah, I bet your hungry Jakipoo. We all know what you're getting hungry for. You miss Rosalie so just go ahead and admit it." Leah was fast on her feet as she quickly dodged "Jakipoo."

"Hey Jaki—UM—Jacob, can we ride with Seth?" Colin and Brady looked at Jake hopefully.

"Are you going to be good and not distract him? He hasn't been driving that long. Hmmm. Maybe I should drive the Ferrari." Jake started like he was going to take the keys. "On second thought, yes you can. I don't want Leah to crash the truck." This time he was the one quickly dodging.

The car ride home was not quiet. They had the AC blasting full tilt. They had the local rock station blaring and they were singing at the top of their lungs. Seth was driving carefully though, Rosalie was vicious when it came to the cars in the household.

"So, how'd Embry hold up on the trip?" Seth was worried for his friend. It had been two years since he'd seen his imprint. It was a fate most men couldn't have handled. But Embry survived. If you asked him about it, he'd say "As long as she's happy". It was a hard thing to watch.

"He smiled the most with his mom. Still morose, but at least he tried for her. When Jared dared him with a game of tag, he accepted on principle, then left off the chase as soon as they crossed into the old Cullen territory. He did joke with Billy about who was going to be taking care of whom. He tried, but didn't really succeed. Don't worry, though, he'll pull through." Colin was very empathic for such a young boy, but having an autistic little sister can do that to you. Colin put his hand on Seth's wrist. "He will survive."

Yeah, he'd survive, but who had just arrived at the Cullens house, the pain might get worse. It was always worse when the imprinted was in pain. This was going to be one fuuuun week.

AN: If the writing style seems different in Seth's part I was trying to get a feel for how he would see things. Let me know if you like it. I may or may not do from his perspective again.

Peace out, the monk.


	4. Hope or Heartache?

I cannot believe how many people have been reading my story. It is just amazing. All of this started with a dream, but if I ever write it out it will be a one shot because it doesn't follow with this story. Sorry for any spelling mistakes last chapter, I did not take my own advice and reread it before I put it up. I will try to better proof read this time. I'm going to try for Embry's point of view in this one. I'm not sure if it'll be third person or first, it'll depend on how it feels.

Again, I did not create any of the characters that you recognize, but I have had such fun playing with them.—Disclaimer ;)

Hope or Heartache?

Embry followed Jake, Leah, and Quil to the truck. He knew that he would hear a dissection of his behavior on their trip. He tried. He really did. But some things just cannot be over come. Seeing his mom again had been nice. He loved seeing her happy with Billy. That thought made him shudder. It was one thing to see his mom happy; it was another to see her with his best friends, and possibly his, father.

"Get in the car Embry. We don't have all day." Jake placed a hand on Embry's shoulder as he stepped into the truck. It hurt to see how worried they were about him.

"I know Jake. I'm getting in. What is the plan for tonight?" They were all in the truck now and Jake started the truck. It was a very nice truck. A four door Ford Extended cab and extended bed. Color? A rich blue. Why? Jasper and Emmett had a paintball war and blue was the only color that would cover up the hot pink and yellow that was permanently adhered to the truck.

Leah looked over at Embry. GREEAAAT. This was going to the start of the conversation.

"Embry, we need to find you a girl. It has been two years and Even still hasn't come back. She hasn't called, emailed or even smoke signaled! You need to try to move on. If you keep moping around, daydreaming about a girl you never even talked to, I'm going to start setting you up with girls from my class who would be happy to date you! I can't stand it anymore! I know I was terrible around Sam, but it wasn't for two whole years! GET OVER YOURSELF BRO.!" Leah fumed. She hated seeing him like this. It was bringing the whole pack down. "It's not that I don't feel you pain, trust me I do, I'm just tired of waiting on her too. She was one of my best friends Embry. I trusted her, and she let me down too."

Embry hung his head. He knew that life was hard on the pack because of his moping.

"I'm sorry Lees. I know it has been hard on you too. Huh, you actually talked with her. Would it be easier if I just went on my own for a while? Do like Jake did and just be for a time?" Embry liked the idea more than anyone would want him to.

"Out of the question Embry. If I have to be away from Claire most of the time, I want you with me. You're my bro., man, you gotta stay." Quil held out his fist for a bump. Embry obliged. Since Jake became Alpha, Quil and Embry had grown much closer. It was easier to be close in a smaller pack. It would be hard to leave them.

"Okay, I'll wait for a little while, but no blind dates Leah. Or I will start setting you up too. Do you think I should try to contact her? What if something happened? There could be a very good reason why she hasn't come back? Besides the minute fact that she has a boyfriend." That was the sole reason he hadn't gone after her yet. His imprint had a boyfriend. One of the same species. And she was happy. That is all that mattered really, his happiness was way down on his list. Even, his mom, his pack, the Cullens, himself. It surprised him that he considered the Cullens happiness before his own. "Thanks a lot Jake!"

"You're welcome, what did I do, oh sarcastic one?" Jake looked back at him in the rearview.

"You have me considering the Cullens happiness before my own. Something is not right here! A wolf putting a vampire before himself? That is your gig, not mine." That at least brought smiles from his friends.

They were almost home. As weird as it was to consider, living with the Cullens had become home. Pulling into the driveway, they all knew that Seth had not told them something. There was a silver, top of the line Nissan 350 Z sitting in the drive. And there were lights on in the front end of the house where the guest rooms were. Seth pulled the Ferrari next to the Truck and his "crew" all climbed out.

"Seth, who is here that you didn't tell us about?" Jake asked as they climbed out of the truck.

"Carlisle asked me not to tell. We have Southern company, and that is all you can get out of me. Sorry!" He sounded anything but. Southern visitors, couldn't be Maria could it? Carlisle wouldn't let them come home if it was.

They cautiously headed into the house. Nessie showed up out of literally out of nowhere. She bounded into Jake's arms faster than lightening. And she was shrieking.

"JACOB! You're home! You are home! I missed you sooooooooooooooo much! I so get to go next time. Momma said I could!" Edward and Bella walked in the room and sat on the couch.

"Nessie, I know that you are excited to see Jake, but dear, you do not shriek inside the house. It is not polite, and if it were a library you would be kicked out." Bella was trying her best to reprimand her daughter while Edward twirled a strand of hair around his finger.

"But Bells, we aren't in a library. We are at home. And I remember you doing similarly when we were kids, but you also had Benedryl in your system. So my point is probably moot," Jacob retorted earning smiles from all.

"Jacob! That is not helping! I am trying to un-teach some of the habits that YOU and Emmett have taught her." Bella fumed pointing at him. "And Edward! I'm trying to concentrate… please stop."

"Okay love." Edward stopped twirling her hair and stepped back five steps.

The pack all walked in and around the semi-fuming couple. As funny as it was to see them fight, it was much to disturbing to think about. Seth showed the Brady and Colin to the kitchen. Embry headed up to his room only to realize that Esme and Alice had been redecorating again.

His usually black carpeted, tan-colored walled room was now a very, very, very BRIGHT green walled, neon blue carpeted room. With new furniture. Brand new furniture. He stepped back out of the room and counted the doors to the bathroom. Yep. Five doors from the bathroom. He closed his eyes, opened the door and rushed into the room shutting the door behind him. Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened his eyes. Well fiddle-sticks. The room was still brightly colored. He dropped his bag and headed to the closet.

The closet had even been painted. And his clothes were gone. He repeated the door shutting, eyes closing and sudden revealing. Still the same. _Edward, please do not, I REPEAT DO NOT, repeat this to the rest of the family. PRETTY PLEASE!_ Dangit, he just though pretty please, what was he five?

Embry walked out to across the hall where he found that Jacob's room had also been changed. Instead of one king sized bed, it now held two full sized. Hoping against hope that his clothes were not in the closet, he slowly opened the closet door. Okay, time to find out who moved in. It couldn't be Tanya's coven, they had their own house. He changed into cut off jeans and a white beater. Esme refused to let them run around the house shirtless after Nessie had asked her why she couldn't go shirtless. Freshly clothed, Embry headed downstairs again.

Alice walked up to him and said, "Don't you dare yell at me Embry Gavin Call! You will really like this surprise. Take my word on it!" Alice then turned and flounced away, leaving Embry in shock.

"Hey! I thought you couldn't see me!" He started after her only to have a young, black, red and purple haired girl run right smack-dab into his gut. "Excuse me, I um, happen to be standing here."

Kelsie looked up at Embry and her eyes grew wider as they traveled the long distance up to his head. "Hi, sorry, I'm klutzy. Has anyone ever told you that you are a giant? You're bigger than my cousin Jack. And he's six-five. And you are burning up. OOOHHHH!! You must be part of the pack. Am I rambling? Because people say I do that a lot." Kelsie was talking at an incredible speed. It rivaled Seth on Mountain Dew.

"Hi, um, I'm Embry Call and you are?" Embry tried to back away from the girl but she stepped forward for each of his steps back.

"I am a girl."

"Ummmmm, I can see that. I do have eyes. I meant what is your name." Now he worried about her sanity, a common worry around Kelsie.

"Oh DUH! I can be such a blonde. Funny I was two days ago. But that is beside the point. I'm Kelsie, Kelsie Noel. Do you like it? I came up with it myself. My cousin said I could." Kelsie started bouncing up and down, without moving her feet.

Embry looked around the room hoping to find someone to shove the girl off on. Everyone was busy. Jake and Nessie were playing "I-missed-you-more." Seth, Colin and Brady were playing rock paper scissors about something. And Hey! Wait a minute. Brady kept looking over at Kelsie. With that certain "I-want-to-talk-to-you-but-I-don't-want-to-put-myself-out-there-and-get-hurt-but-I'm-trying-to-get-my-nerve-up-to-anyway" look. Whatever. "So who is your cousin?"

"Even ummmm… EVEN!" Kelsie shouted for her cousin. Even. That wasn't a popular name. It was so unpopular that it wasn't in dictionaries, he had looked. What were the odds that it was the same Even?

Then Even came running into the living room followed by Rosalie. Her hair was shorter than the last time Embry had seen it. By maybe a few feet, and it was red. A red that looked completely natural on her. At first sight, she looked really good. Then he really looked at her. Her 5'10" frame last time had been lean and toned. Now it was soft, and well, she had a gut. It looked like she had gorged herself at an all you can eat pizza hut. Her face had gained some weight, and her eyes were reserved. Not at all the bright electric blue they had been at the wedding. They were still the same color blue, but not at all easy going and alert. Just alert and reserved. Like she was trying to keep the world out, and the pain in.

Embry wanted nothing more than to whisk her way and find a means to ease the pain. But his body was in too great a shock to do more than just stand there. He was finally able to breathe. Two years and he finally felt whole. Well, almost. He needed to feel her in his arms for the very first time.

"What do you need Kels?" Even asked her charge. Embry thought her voice was that of a broken-hearted angel. Who just happened to be trying to hide the fact that she was in great pain.

"Oh Embry here just asked who you were, and I couldn't remember your last name. I know it used to be Fox but I don't know what it is now. What is it pray tell?" Kelsie wrapped an arm around Even's waist.

"Phicese. And NO EMMETT! IT IS NOT FECES! He is all the time making fun of my last name which has existed longer than Carlisle has been alive, if not the Volturi. Hi, I don't believe we've met." Even held her hand out to him, Embry Gavin Call.

He just stared at it. One hundred things he had thought of to say at this exact moment. He couldn't remember how to talk. He just stared at her hand. At least it wasn't somewhere more personal. Embry was mentally kicking himself and telling himself to talk. He wasn't listening. Her hand moved back to her side.

"I'm sorry if it's dry. I never seem to be able to drink enough water these days. I wouldn't want to shake it either." She chuckled and started walking away with Rose, "Nice to meet you Embry."

"W…" He was cut off by Leah. "EVEN!!! YOU'RE HERE! YOU'RE HERE! YOU'RE REALLY, REALLY HERE! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! OHMIGOSH!" Leah tackle-hugged Embry before Even could turn around. "EMBRY!!! Why am I hugging you?" Leah was so confused. Embry had been standing three feet way at this point. "OH, wow, I feel so dumb. I wasn't going to hurt her Emb. She is tougher than she looks. Now vamos."

"You could have though." Embry couldn't believe he said that. Of course the first words out of his mouth in front of her would have to sound stupid. He had stepped between Even and Leah on pure instinct.

Giving Embry the evil eye, Leah stepped around him and hugged her friend. Even clutched Leah close. Embry could tell that there was more to the story than just what he knew. Yeah, they had fought for like two minutes two years ago beating the snot out of each other, but to be that close? Leah said that they talked for like ten minutes after the fight, and then another few minutes before Even left the day after the wedding. Hmmm. He was going to have to hear the rest of the story.

"Leah! I have missed you. It looks like you're at peace now. I'm so glad." Even held her friend at arms length.

"You look terrible, Ev. What happened? Who died? You look like you died and your body hasn't caught up yet." Leave it to Leah to cut to the heart of the matter.

"Leah, I think maybe Even should sit down, she looks rather pale." Embry reached to steady Even as she began to sway. He was thrilled that he finally had touched her, but was terrified at why she was so pale so fast. Then she went limp and her full weight was on him. She had fainted.

AN: HEHEHEHEHE! CLIFFHANGER! Sorry someone put mean raisins in my raisin bran this morning. I'd say sorry it's short, but I'm really not so I won't. It is just the length I deem that it needs to be. And it is my call after all. Hope you enjoyed it. I hope to do either Kelsie or Even's pov next. If you have any ideas you would like to see in here or shout outs you'd like to see I'll do my best to oblige. And I.P.F.Q. I started adding some background story in here, just for you!

Peace go with you.

themonk


	5. Remember When

In the spirit of Halloween, I'm including a little story about Nessie's first celebrated Halloween or at least the prep. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the known characters. I just own Even, Kelsie, Jack, Habakkuk, Hannah, and any others I decide to add

Remember When

About 10 minutes before the ending of the previous chapter:

After an hour of sitting outside, just Even and Rosalie, Alice joined them. It was now about three in the afternoon, and Rose and Alice had been telling their sides of what happened with Bella and Nessie. The weather was still gorgeous, and Alice had put the umbrella up so that Even wouldn't be blinded by them.

"So last year Jake tells us that La Push is having a Reserve wide trick-or-treat party. Nessie falls in love with the idea, as does Bella. Being the loving, caring, fashion forward aunts that we are, Alice and I took Nessie costume shopping." Rose said with a grin.

"I bet it had nothing to do with the fact that you both are addicted to shopping, did it," Even interjected looking pointedly at Alice.

"Whatever!"

"Anyways, we took her all over the state looking for a good costume. She complained about everything! I mean, come on! What little girl doesn't want to be a fairy princess? They had the pink wings, flower cut skirt, and matching tiara! It was so cute on her, but no, she didn't like the wings. They pinched her back. So we went to the store across the street. They had a classic witch's costume that would have looked lovely on her. NO! She wanted to not wear all black, even if it came with a really cool hat." Rosalie's eyes were dancing so vibrantly that they looked as if they would dance out of her head. "At the same store we found a Hermione Granger costume. Thought we hit the jackpot. She yanked it up and ran, slowly, to the changing room. She came out looking more like Hermione and Ron's daughter. That wouldn't work, no buddy no."

Even could picture Nessie's face, so much like her father's when he wanted something his way. _No the chord needs be minor not diminished. _She shook her head at the memory. Planning the music for his wedding was something she and Rose were supposed to be doing that day, not that he paid any attention to that fact.

"Even! We aren't done with the story yet!" Alice admonished the younger woman.

"Sorry, just pictured Nessie's face looking like Edward's when we were writing that one song… Continue please!"

"Okay, so finally I said 'Nessie, why don't you just go as a vampire? We could get you plastic fangs and pointy ears.' Jake had joined us by now and replied 'Why would she want to be a vampire? Everyone knows that werewolves are better!' Rose and I glared at him. Nessie just laughed and walked out of the store. We all just followed her. We drove all the way to Edmonton in Alberta, Canada to find the perfect costume.—"

"JACOB! You're home! You are home! I missed you soooooooo much!"

"Guess that means the pack is back. Oh well, if they need us, they can find us. So we're in Canada (not legally of course) and Nessie begins squealing. She found the most adorable super-girl outfit. It was yellow-based with a pink superman 'S' in the center, and the cape was pink. She was in love! I could have sworn that it made Jake jealous! Alice loved what Ness said next 'Aunty Alice, I need some matching yellow boots to finish my outfit off.' Alice's face was priceless! We found the shoes, and discussed the whole way home about how to do her hair, Jake said that we should straighten it. He actually had a good idea! Hey, where are you heading off to Alice?" Rosalie asked her sister after finishing her tale.

"Oh, you know, got to go fight with a wolf about room rearrangements. I saw that he was going to search me out." Alice danced into the house leaving Rosalie and Even to ponder what she said.

Even looked at Rose. Room rearrangements? Did that mean that the room she was staying in was someone else's room? Great. She knew something didn't feel right. Rose looked worried about something. Couldn't be the room thing, she would have already known about that.

"What's wrong Rose? You look like something shocked you," Even stated.

"Alice just said that she saw one of the wolves. She can't see them. Like premonition seeing. It has something to do with the fact that they are something she has never been. She can't see Nessie either." Rose's eyes looked distant, the way they did when she was analyzing what was wrong with a car just by hearing it.

"Oh, I can see why that might cause some worry. Um, did y'all kick someone out of their room so I could have one?" Even did not want to be a nuisance and would rectify the situation as soon as possible.

"Yeah, we moved Embry out of his room so that you could have one. It's no biggie. He's in Jake's room now." Rose welcomed the distraction. She would have to talk to Carlisle about her worries later.

"Even!"

Is there no rest for the weary? Even stood up to go see what her cousin needed. As she walked into the room she saw Kelsie looking up at one of the pack. He was huge! He made her older brother Jack look like a shrimp! She wrapped an arm around Kelsie's shoulder and queried, "What do you need Kels?"

"Oh Embry here just asked who you were, and I couldn't remember your last name. I know it used to be Fox but I don't know what it is now. What is it pray tell?" Kelsie wrapped an arm around Even's waist.

"Phicese. And NO EMMETT! IT IS NOT FECES! He is all the time making fun of my last name which has existed longer than Carlisle has been alive, if not the Volturi. Hi, I don't believe we've met." Even held her hand out to Embry.

She wondered about him as he stared at her hand with wonder. She looked at them too. They were a little dry, but still he could shake her hand. Maybe he's a germ-a-phobe. Or he has a thing against hands. The jerk, he could say something!

"I'm sorry if it's dry. I never seem to be able to drink enough water these days. I wouldn't want to shake it either." She chuckled and started walking away with Rose, "Nice to meet you Embry."

Even saw Rose turn her head slightly at a noise and began to do the same when she heard Leah begin screaming like Nessie had when Jacob showed up.

"EVEN!!! YOU'RE HERE! YOU'RE HERE YOU'RE REALLY, REALLY HERE! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! OHMIGOSH!" Even turned just in time to see Embry jump in between her and the running Leah. "Embry!!! Why am I hugging you?" Her face was priceless; she looked as confused as a child sitting in on a math expose. "Oh, wow, I feel so dumb. I wasn't going to hurt her Emb. She is tougher than she looks. Now vamos."

"You could have though," Embry said quietly, mournfully. They were the first words he had said since Even had walked in the room. They were odd first words.

Leah gave Embry her signature evil eye as she stepped around him. They only spent a total of an hour together, but Even felt closest to her except for R—wait. Don't ruin the moment Even. She put on a smile and hugged her friend. "Leah! I have missed you. It looks like you're at peace now. I'm so glad." She held Leah at arms length and inspected her.

"You look terrible, Ev. What happened? Who died? You look like you died and your body hasn't caught up yet." The whole time Leah was talking Even felt her senses begin to slip away from her. Her temperature rose suddenly, and her hearing began to fade. She had held on carefully to her façade, but Leah was the first one to outright ask her who had died. She could stop it now. Her nervous system had had enough and was finished. Blackness surrounded her and she didn't know what happened next.

***

The first thing Even noticed was she was lying down. She did not remember deciding to take a nap. And she felt cold. Then she tried to open her eyes and saw everyone hovering over her. Esme was on the phone, presumably with Carlisle, and Rosalie was checking her vitals. She tired to sit up, but hot hands pushed her down. Maybe it was Leah; she couldn't turn her head around to see.

"You don't need to sit up yet Even. We don't know why you passed out yet." The voice was deep, familiar yet unfamiliar. Male, warm hands, could it be one of the Pack?

"Even? What happened? Are you okay? You know, you already had everyone's attention. You didn't have to pass out." Tobi. No, it was Kelsie now. _Okay. So I passed out, big deal it has happened before…when I was confronted by Mom about my sudden depression. That was when I told her that Raya had moved away. Hmmm. What did the doc call it again? Vassi vagal?_

"Did I really pass out?" _My throat is sore_. Even heard sighs of relief from everyone in the room. She was more able to focus now.

"Yes you did pass out. You think it was a vaso vagal response? Like how Bella used to react? How do you feel?" Edward queried. _Why do you need to ask? Can't you tell? I feel kinda crappy with a dose of claustrophobia._

"Well at least you still have some sarcasm. Everyone, move back a bit. She feels crowded." _What do you know Edward, you are good for something._

"Are you thirsty or anything like that? Need an Ibuprofen? Cup of Joe? Anything? Is there anything I can do or get that will make you feel better?" Now that she could stand to turn her head, Even saw that Embry was still standing right beside her. She could feel the heat radiating off him. His look reminded her of C— she cut herself off. She could not go there. Not again.

"A cup-a-Joe? You mean coffee? YUCK! Gag me now, please! Ibuprofen wouldn't hurt and some water. You're Embry, right?" Anything to get him to back up. Nessie ducked out of the room with a look from Edward.

"Yes, my name is Embry. I'm sorry for whatever Leah did to you to make you pass out. She has that effect on people. We'll have some water for you in a minute." He would not stop looking at her. His look seemed so familiar. Protective, embarrassed, loving. CRAP! That is the image of Sam that Leah had thought of when explaining imprinting. Edward snickered. _Just because you can read minds doesn't mean you have to comment!_

Nessie returned with a glass of water and a bottle of Ibuprofen, and handed them to Even. Kelsie walked up to the bed again. She looked scared. The poor girl had been uprooted and now her only security had passed out. Swallowing the pills, Even scooted over so that Kelsie could climb onto the bed.

"If y'all don't mind, Kels and I need a moment. I'm fine. We'll come downstairs in a few." Even requested, and the others in the room left. Everyone but Embry, who had moved to sit on the foot of her bed. He made no move as to leave. The gall of the man.

"I mean you too, Embry." She tried to glare at him, but that made her head hurt worse.

"I really don't think it's such a good idea—"

"Embry, Edward is a mind reader, if I need anything I'll just yell at him. Now please go." Embry looked hurt, and it felt like someone pressed a knife into her heart. Slowly he got off the bed.

"Okay, but I think we need to talk later." With that, he walked out of the room.

Kelsie curled into Even's side, in return, Even wrapped her arms around her cousin.

"I'm sorry I passed out Kels. I'm sorry I brought you into this mess. I'm sorry that your mom and dad divorced. I'm so sorry that I took you away from the family. I'm—" Even had begun tearing up.

"Stop. You couldn't have controlled any of this. Bad things happen. We grow and we move on. I'm just glad you aren't dead. That would have been inconvenient. You were doing what would keep us alive. And then your body couldn't handle it anymore. At least, that's what Bella said," Kelsie spouted off, showing that mature side so few people see.

"When did you grow up so much? It seems like just yesterday you were throwing a blanket over Jack and calling him Lumpy." Even hugged Kelsie closer. The girl had a talent for saying what people needed to hear, at least part of the time. There were times when she said whatever first popped into her mind. It usually was a laugh riot.

"Three years, seven months, two weeks and two days ago."

"Hahaha. You just pulled that off the top of your head didn't you?"

"Of course I did! Now let's go downstairs. No more moping lying on the bed!" Kelsie sung the last part.

The two girls made their way downstairs arm in arm. Even was barefoot and felt every step. She was getting flashes of things, the panic that hit everyone when she was non-responsive for five minutes. A year ago, she wouldn't have been paying attention to such things. She would have been humming under her breath, or at least letting a tune roll around in her head. Now, she just dealt with it. That is, until it became too much to handle then she had to think of a song to distract her.

As they reached the bottom step, Even noticed that only the pack were in the living room. And they were taking up every seat with their, how shall we say, plenteous frames. Jacob was sitting in a plush rocking chair with Nessie sitting in his lap. Embry, Colin? and Quil were sitting on one couch, and Leah, Seth, and Brady? on the other. It was surprising that the Cullens weren't in the room considering Even's fainting spell. If she wanted to she could find out if they were in the house or not, but that could be very painful considering how many people there were in the house.

One of the young men, either Brady or Colin, he was sitting with Leah and Seth, stood when he saw that they had come down the stairs and walked over. He was kinda cute in that, younger man way. Even tried to remember if he was one or two years younger than Seth. He held his hand out to Kelsie first, then to Even. "Hi, I'm Brady Darren. I'm part of the La Push pack. It's nice to meet you both." He looked in to Kelsie's eyes, barely glancing at Even while he introduced himself.

"It's nice to meet you too Brady." Even spoke for her cousin, who looked shell shocked. Even then maneuvered around the two to take Brady's vacant seat. "Hey Seth, how are you doing?" She patted his shoulder rather roughly. He looked at her startled. She didn't look as if she would be that strong. Even grinned at him wickedly. One well placed hand was all that was needed to put him in the floor.

"Hey! What was that for?!" Seth exclaimed from his new seat.

"When there be-eth a young damsel in need of a seat, 'tis only proper for the young gentleman to give up his seat." She spoke hoity-toitily, with a fake British accent.

"Be-eth?" Leah shook her head and could not contain her laughter.

Kelsie sat down between Leah and Even. Then Brady came and sat at Kelsie's feet. Even nodded her head in understanding. Between the long looks into her eyes, and this behavior, she knew that Brady had imprinted on her cousin. _Well, God does work in mysterious ways_. Embry followed suit and sat down by Even's feet. Sitting on the floor, his head came even with her shoulder. Dang. The couch was not low either. Seth climbed off the floor into Embry's vacant seat.

"So, Even, how is it that you beat the tar out of my sister that time?" he questioned.

"Oh I didn't beat the tar out of her, I just was well matched. Between her claws/teeth, and my mind reading abilities, we were even." Even dropped the little bomb shell on them.

"Oh. Wait! Mind reading abilities? I thought Edward was the only one who could do that!" The rest of the pack, minus Leah, plus Nessie and Kelsie, looked rather shocked.

Even had to laugh. "I can only read y'all's minds when your in animal form. My people have always been able to read animal minds. It helps out a lot when you go up against an octopus. Ugh. Those things are terrible! Oh come on! Y'all ain't got nothing to worry about right now." They still looked confused. "What's the matter with y'all?"

"Oh! Even, they don't understand you! The poor unfortunate souls. I've heard of this happenin' before." Here Kelsie turned to a stage whisper. "They are from the north cuz. They ain't got no idee 'bout what we's be sayin."

"Oh I'm so sorry. Will y'all please forgive me?" Even poured the southern accent on thick. "Y'all is you all. Kinda like ye was in the Bible. And ain't is am not. I said that you all have nothing to worry about. It's only when you are in animal form that I hear you."

They looked like they half understood her now. Even was still somewhat dizzy from her fainting spell. Not that she'd admit it. She leaned back against the couch to ease her head ache. The mention of the fight brought back memories.

_Grandfather must really trust me now._ If King Habakkuk was letting her, 16 year old Even, take his place at his best friend's son's wedding, he had to. She shook her head. That story would never grow old. The merman and the vampire becoming best friends. 

She packed her overnight bag at her house. The story that Even's mom heard was that Even's best friend, Raya's cousin, Edward, was getting married to his high school sweet heart. Mom would drop Even off at Raya's, go home, and never be the wiser. The Aquamente's had promised that they would not answer the phone over the weekend. They had done this type of thing many times, being Merpeople themselves. Even would get a good night's sleep after practicing some land fighting, then head West using different water ways. 

_I really hope I don't get caught or hurt! That would suck. This is the most important mission yet._

She arrived right on time, but due to Forks, she had to emerge more towards the coast. This meant that Even would have to walk to the Cullen's house. The only problem with that was, she was notorious for getting her rights and lefts confused. Oh she knew which hand was which, but in given directions, she got confused. 

_Okay, go right after you emerge in Sol Duc River, travel that way until you reach the Cullen's house. Oh, that shouldn't be that hard…_ Even turned to her right and started walking. She was prepared for this. Part of being an Ambassador was doing hard things, in hard times. Such as, purposely walking to a house full of vampires for a vamp-human wedding. She had been giving the _Twilight_ books, the three of them that had been published, to read in preparation for this trip. It surprised all of her friends that she liked them, considering that it was about vampires. She knew what the world didn't, the books were Bella's telling of what happened. Some of it was embellished, but still, it was true.

Even reached out to touch each tree as she passed it, humming to herself. Being tacto-kenipathic (**AN: yes I did make that word up, but it is an educated guess. Watch x-men), **she could see what the object she touched saw, but she also got the emotions of the happenings. The only way she found to control her gift was singing. Or humming, or just mentally letting a song roll around in her head. In this part of the forest she saw the giant wolves that have haunted them since old times. Though the Quileutes didn't know it, they and the mer had worked together on several occasions. _Hmmm, one of the wolves is here now. About… 50 yards away._ She listened closely using the sense all mer had, the animal sense. She could just hear the female? _That's odd. I thought that part would have been the embellishment._

"_Hey Seth, there's a new scent here, I'm going to check it out. You go on back and get some school work done and send one of the older guys out here." It was a female talking to a male. "Leaaah! Its summer time! I don't have school work! And I can back you up!" _It sounded like they were siblings_. "No Seth. Go home and I know for a fact that you have not read _Where the Red Fern Grows,_ so get over yourself!" Yeah, they were siblings. Hmmm. How best to handle this situation? _She heard a thump-thumpity-thump that was characteristic of an animal running. Even bent over to see what the ground showed, because the images she was getting from Leah's? head were a blur. 

Next thing she knew, there was a big wolf standing right on top of her. She jumped back momentarily forgetting that she was looking from the ground's perspective. Laughing, she refocused her attention and armed herself. The triton was a very specialized weapon. Made by the bearer, it had a piece of their soul? Mind? Spirit? in the metal. It was, all in all a great weapon, fire could be thrown at a moments notice, it could change size, it was easily thrown. 

The wolf was right in front of her now. Snarling. The she-wolf sniffed, and lunged. Even did what she could to keep from getting pounced on, but her left foot got stuck behind her right foot, and well, mers have never been known for land grace. Even listened closer. 

"_I can tell that she is not human, but she doesn't smell like a bloodsucker. But she is armed. Incapacitate. That's what I'll do. Sit!"_

Even reacted quicker this time. She pushed her legs against the beast and rolled at the same time. Then she turned and kicked the wolf in the side, sending her flying.

"_Who in the world does she think she is?! She can't just kick me around! Turn, sprint, teeth."_

Even saw her coming, though with it being from two different point of view, it was discombobulating. She shifted her weight, right foot first, triton at the ready. That caused the wolf to stop. Even spoke.

"Quileute, I don't want to hurt you but if you strike me, I will defend myself. So please stop."

"_Stupid girl, thinking that she can beat me with a shiny, gold stick."_

"I am not stupid, and I can beat you. You fight with your instincts, it would be like fighting anything else." Even replied to the thought speaking clearly.

"_OH CRAP! You can hear my thoughts?" _Leah grew very hesitant.

"Yes Leah, I can. It's a talent of mine. I also can see that you have a big pack to revenge you, so I don't want to have to hurt you." Even spoke with authority, but in a calming way.

"_Wow, ummm, I don't know about them revenging me…" its more likely that they will say good riddance._

"Why would your pack not mourn your loss? I thought packs were very close knit?" Even was confused by the thoughts. In all the stories the pack was closer than brothers.

"_The Alpha and I dated before the change happened. And girls aren't supposed to change at all. Then he had to go and imprint on my best friend. I'm a grudge carrier. I always seem to hang on to them. And now, I can't just ignore him, because he's my alpha." _Leah started shuddering, but she wasn't changing. She was crying. Even walked over to her and wrapped her arms around the wolf as best she could. Even couldn't stand for anyone to cry, and Leah needed someone to be objective.

"Leah, sometimes God's plans are different than ours. He sees the big picture, and knows that what we think is best isn't. Maybe you loved your Alpha—"

"_Sam."_

"Sam, because you needed someone to teach you how to love?"

"_Why do you even care?! It's not like you even know me! I don't even know who you are!" _Leah's thoughts were acidic.

"Leah—" Her phone beeped. It was a text from Conner. Love ya babe, but don't loose track of time. "Leah, I have to get to the Cullen's house. Can you point me in the right direction and we pick up this conversation tomorrow night?" Even really had to move now. She was supposed to be at the house in twenty minutes.

"_NO! Not until I know who you are!"_

"Leah, my name is Even Phicese. I am an Ambassador for the Merpeople of the Atlantic Ocean. I'm here to act in the stead of my King at Edward and Bella's wedding. I am supposed to be there in twenty minutes. I will come back and talk tomorrow if you need to. I promise."

"_Fine, I'll take you as far as the line. Then it shouldn't be too far from there. Oh just climb on! It'll be faster."_ Leah bent down so Even could climb up. "_We can talk more this way. Are you saying that you're a Mermaid? Like Ariel and Sebastian?"_

Even felt someone touch her foot, bringing her back to the present.

"Um, Cuz, You kinda spaced out there for a bit." Kelsie looked at her worried.

"It's fine. Just remembering. Where were we?" She plastered a smile on her face, though it was completely fake. _This is going to be more difficult than at home._


	6. Imprint Infuriation

TO all my wonderful readers, FINALS ARE FINALLY DONE!!! Now I can work on this again! As promised IPFQ, I am giving you some Brady Darren action.

Disclaimer: If I was Stephenie Meyer, I would still write on fanfiction because publishers nix things that I would want in there. And who knows, maybe I wanted an ending where Bella to end up with Mike.

Imprint Infuriation

_**Two hours after the ending of the last chapter, so about six P.M.**_

**I'm insane. Yeah, that's it, insane. I didn't just imprint on some southern-not-quite-so-belle. No that's ludicrous. Plus, Sam would like kill me if I told him that I was staying with Jake's pack because of some girl. Not to mention Mom, Dad, Collin… Oh who am I kidding! She's perfect!**

**I leaned over the sink in the Cullen's bathroom. Never thought I'd be here. I stared myself down in the mirror. In one instant, things got complicated fast. Seth told me what he knew about the other guests on the way here from the airport, but I never expected this.**

**Grabbing the sink with both hands, I tried to slow the shimmers running down my spine. The stress of not just out-right telling her was excruciating. Deep breath in, hold it, deep breath out, hold it****.**__**Kelsie Noel. Such a simple name yet it calms me down quicker than anything. And I just met her.**

"**Brady, I know you're trying to calm down, but breaking a five thousand dollar sink is not the answer."**

**I jumped at the sound of Esme's voice. Turning to look at her, I could see she really cared. Weird that I would be more willing to talk about girls to this woman than my own mother, but then again, (Edward if you tell her this you will lose a hand) she is quite older than my mom.**

"**Sorry Mrs. Cullen. I didn't intend to hang on to it like that." I apologized sheepishly. Which is odd, seeing as I am closer to a dog than a sheep…?**

**She shook her head slowly. "It's Esme dear. Mrs. Cullen is my late mother-in-law." She smirked. The woman is like ninety at least and she still smirks.**

"**Hehe, I guess it would. It didn't seem this complicated with the other guys. Well, maybe with Quil, but eh, that's Quil. What am I going to do?" This was the big problem. Kelsie has just had her life turned upside down. Literally. She went from small town Tennessee, to college town, New Hampshire. **

"**Let's go outside and talk dear. It will be better than in the lavatory." She walked out of the room, just trusting me to follow her. And I did.**

**When we got outside, she sat down on a swing and motioned for me to sit too. I sat on the chase lounge and propped my feet up. It was a nice evening. Sunset in just thirty minutes. There was a soft breeze flitting through the air. Wow…that sounded so poetic.**

"**Esme, what am I going to do? I'm scared to just tell her, that could make her pass out like her cousin…umm… did." Funny, I know I've heard it several times today, but for the life of me can't remember it.**

**Esme chuckled. "Her name is Even. And I don't think Kelsie will pass out. She seems calmer than Even. More even tempered. I think you should talk to Sam, let him know what is going on. Then tell Even, because she is very protective by nature. But be honest with her. She needs people to be honest right now. If she asks you point blank, tell her, if not wait until the time is right. It will all come out in the wash." **

**Okay, tell Sam, then tell Even. Tell Sam, then tell Leah because she knows better what Even's reaction will be. Oh crap, I'm gunna die. "Thanks Esme, I think I'm doomed then. If you think I need to tell Even first." Great, now I sound miserable.**

"**Oh, we won't let her kill you. We are just faster than she is. Unless of course, she is really, really mad, then she might be faster and you might break an arm. Oh it will be fine Brady. Just go for a run and talk to Sam. As your Alpha, he as the right to know." Esme saw my face drop. She gave me a reassuring smile and nodded towards the forest. **

"**Okay. I'll talk to Sam. But I may get Leah to tell Even. That sounds safer." She nodded again and I started running towards the forest. **

**I flipped off my shirt that we were required to wear in the house, and as soon as I hit the woods I somersaulted to take my shorts off. Jake taught us that trick. Sam was the one who decided we should carry our clothes on us. Of course today, my tie had to get tangled, so I hopped on one foot for ten feet or so trying to get my shorts on my leg. Great. Distantly I heard laughter. Double great.**

**Finally, I got them on and let myself phase. It's hard to believe that a year and a half ago I was so scared to phase, now it's just natural. I'm not as smooth as Sam, or as fast as Jake, but I do enjoy it. This distance was greater than any we have tried, other than occasionally with Jake and Sam. Immediately I felt Jared's mind. Then Paul joined the picture.**

"_**Hey guys. Is Sam around?" **_**I asked them.**

"_**Whoa. Brady, you imprinted? Wow. You go dog! Yeah, Jared go get him."**_** Paul replied. **

**I felt Jared's impatience. "**_**Why should I go get him? I was the one who made it on time. Not your sorry a**_**-**_**butt. You should be the one to go."**_

"_**No, I'm older, I'm 'Beta' you should go."**_** The two of them have always fought. Non-stop. They were worse than Embry and Quil.**

"_**Why don't you both go?! I really need to talk to Sam!" **_**Yelling is the only way to get through to these guys.**

**They faded out to get Sam, without freaking out his pregnant wife. The forest around here was different than at home. They have syrup trees here. I guess that would be maple, since it is maple syrup. Duh. The ground wasn't the water-logged mess it was at home. More dense and rocky, less loamy. The air was dryer too. I kind of miss the wet air. **

**While waiting for Sam to phase, I run around reveling in the feeling of the air moving smoothly in and out of my lungs. My speed steadily increased until I was running faster than ever. Who knows? I might have been able to out run Seth and Collin. I will not start giggling like a school girl! I will not I will not!**

"_**While you're not giggling like a school girl, what's so important that I had to send my pregnant wife's ice cream and cookies home with the oafs?"**_** Sam cut into my happiness. **

"_**Oh, sorry about that… Can I assume that they told you what happened about two this afternoon?" **_**I asked feeling embarrassed about the inconvenience, and his overhearing my glee.**

"_**All they said was that you needed to talk to me pronto." **_**He was silent for a second listening in on what had happened as I reviewed it. "**_**Oh, you imprinted on this Kelsie girl huh. Well, from what I remember of Even, which isn't a lot, she should take it well as long as you aren't rude about it." **_

"_**Thanks…I think. But what if Kelsie doesn't accept me? What if she does, but wants to stay? What if she wakes up in the middle of the night and decides that she needs to go back to Tennessee? Sam! I don't know what is happening to me!" **_**Great. Now I've lost it for sure. I have never been the worry-wart in the family, but it seems like I've taken Mom's spot.**

"_**You'll be fine Brady. You have to face these issues head on. Know that we are all here behind you ready to back you up. Or make you back up if necessary. If staying out there is what it takes for her piece of mind, then you should stay. If she doesn't want this, then we will help you through the pain. Okay kid?" **_**Sam's thoughts were nothing but supportive. "**_**All of us have gone through this. And when it comes to telling risky parties, talk to Jake. He has experience in telling the parental figure of the imprint that actually stands a chance of killing you. But don't worry about it kiddo." **_

**Well, he did have a point. This wasn't the first time that one of us has had to go through this. And Jake did have the hardest time with the parents. Even worse than Quil.**

"_**Okay man. I think I can do this… Are you sure I can? How should I tell her? I mean, she knows that it can happen, Even briefed her on the way up here. Oh this is so confusing."**_

"_**Talk to Jake, Brady. And the Cullen's maybe able to help too. Can I go back to my wife now? Not that I don't enjoy helping you with your problems, but she is really moody lately." **_**I guess I could understand that…**

"_**I've already talked with Esme, she said to talk to you. Okay. You can go, tell Emily I'm sorry for holding you up please." **_

"_**Okay kid. Will do. Don't be surprised if she calls you. Later kid." **_**He slowly faded away as he phased back to human form. **

**Step one: Run some more to work out the rest of this frustration.**

**Step two: Tell Jake and Leah.**

**Step three: Figure out how in the world to tell Even.**

**Step four: Tell Kelsie.**

**Step five: Don't die.**

**Mom always said it was better to have a five step plan when trying to accomplish something. The first step should be easy. I love running. Step two shouldn't be much harder. Maybe step five should be step three and step three be step four and step four be step five. Whoa, I don't know what I just said…**

**I started running as hard as I could again. I went about fifteen miles North then ran the same distance East. Running South-southwest, I ran within a five minute human run from the house. Phasing back to human always left me feeling wrong. Like I should stay a wolf, but that caused me to feel weird about wanting to stay wolf. Teenage hormones can be confusing…just thought you should know.**

**I phased back to human and put my shorts on with less a struggle than they were to take off. My shirt was laying around here somewhere. I had run close enough to the house to hear Leah and Seth bickering over homework. **

"**Seth you have to do your homework. I don't care if there are guests here or not."**

"**LEEAAH!!! Where is your sense of fun? Or did it get all soaked away in your hot springs trip?"**

**Summer school was the bane to every wolf's existence. But Mrs. Clearwater was very clear. Seth could only go East with the Cullen's if he went to summer school. She left Leah in charge of seeing that he actually went. Seth, along with the rest of the La Push boys were notorious for not doing school work…Myself included.**

**I could see the house, no mansion, now. Seth had calmed down somewhat it seemed through the big picture window in the kitchen. He was sitting at the table moping. Then Kelsie walked in and I started running faster.**

**Too bad I didn't see that the door was clear glass. Esme's need for things to be clean was my downfall. Her anticipation that Emmett wouldn't remember to open the door was the reason I didn't impale myself on a large piece of glass. **

"**Um…Brady, honey, there is a door there. Are you hurt?" Esme questioned, just barely keeping a chuckle out of her voice.**

**That had to be the exact moment that Emmett walked in. "Dude, you bombed the landing. The glass didn't cover all the room." He walked back out.**

"**I'm fine Esme. And Emmett, we can't all have the same effect on breakables as you." I yelled out just to get on his nerves.**

"**Seth, what are you reading for school?" Kelsie said from in the kitchen. Oh, her beautiful, beautiful voice. **

**I got off the floor and walked into the kitchen. Seth still at the table, but Kelsie was leaning over him. Her hand rested on his shoulder. HIS shoulder. It should be resting on mine. I'm the one who just fell through a door. Okay, ran through a door. And she was smiling at him. **

"**The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. Its okay, but the kid's name is Pony. I mean get real," Seth answered clearly annoyed by the book. He and reading never got along all that great. **

"**I guess you haven't gotten to Soda-Pop yet, have you? You really ought to stick to it. it's a good story. All about class discrimination and brotherhood. Plus its really funny in places." Kelsie giggled out. She was flirting with him!!! Dangit! **

**As I looked at her looking at him, all of the calm and advice I received from Esme and Paul, yeah, it went out the window. My spine started shaking, causing my vision to waver, and Seth looked up. **

"**Hey dude, you okay? I heard someone go through th-" He was trying to be nice. But I grabbed his arm and hauled his- calm down- outside. I could hear everyone following us outside, and Jake asking me where my mind was, but I was focused only on getting him as far away from her as possible.**

"**BRADY! What is wrong with you dude? Talk to me and don't pull my arm off! Please." Seth gave me an excellent idea. I kicked my foot up and kept a death grip on his arm. My foot hit his ribcage as planned, but he grabbed it with his other hand. Then started twisting my foot. **

**I dropped my foot, and the hold on his arm. We were about fifty feet into the forest at this point. I raised my fists level with my chin and collar bone, left and right respectfully. Dad always said my stance was backward, but its how I roll. Seth raised his hands in a 'Dude-I-wasn't-doing-anything-to-deserve-this' gesture. Not, the I'm innocent please don't hurt me gesture. It was the defensiveness in his eyes.**

"**Brady, you don't want to do this. Talk it out and work out a diplomatic solution to this problem." Edward suggested hearing no important information from the young wolf's mind.**

"**Diplomacy is worthless. Back off. This is between me and the creep." I turned my eyes from Seth for a split second and was tackled to the ground. I grabbed his head and shoved it. **

**We rolled on the ground, throwing punches and growling. The Cullens and the rest of Seth's pack watched. Apparently, Even was keeping Kelsie and Nessie in the house. We only took out two trees, so I guess you could say we fight green.**

"**SETH! You will stay away from Kelsie if you know what's good for you." I had him pinned yet again, and was shoving his face in the dirt. I was too mad to have phased. And no doubt, Sam would have found out and ordered me down.**

"**Kelsie? What happened between me and Kelsie?" except it sounded more like "Kewsy? Wha happnd bwetwon mio n kewsy?" I kept his head down.**

"**Flirtation!!! You were flirting with my imprint. STAY AWAY! I'm not kidding man!" He kicked the back of my head somehow, and pinned me again. We could probably fight for the next two hours and neither of us win.**

"**I'm sorry. I didn't know. I mean I assumed that you had imprinted, but I so did not mean to flirt. Honest. I would never do that to you dude. You're like the brother I never had but always wanted. Instead of the crazy sister I was 'blessed' with." He held out his hand to me. He seemed honest. But I did feel a little too calm. Must be Jasper, he's the one that could mess with emotions. I think…**

**I reached up to take his hand. "Let's not mention this to Kelsie how bout? I guess you were right man. Just watch it. Don't like hurt her feelings, just don't encourage her please? It's bad enough that I have to deal with her cousin. I need all the help I can get." He pulled me up and we did the bro hug. **

"**Hey, why is the Bradster the one that is like your brother? I'm just like him, except much less annoying!" Collin interjected, dejectedly. **

"**Only to you is he less annoying!" Seth replied and dashed out of Collin's reach.**

**We all walked back to the house laughing and joking all the way.**

**An: I hope that wasn't too awkward. Christmas shopping kept getting in the way of getting this out, so in the spirit of Christmas: A teaser.**

"I want you to find her for me. Her name is Kelly Fox. She is from Tennessee, but wasn't around her address when I got there before being called back in. Will you bring her here for me?" Jane's eyes pleaded. She didn't have to inflict pain. Just beg.

"I'll do it. I won't come back until I have her in hand. That's a promise."

**Merry Christmas.**


	7. Hate

Hello all!!! Its your friendly neighborhood monk!!! So now that I don't have to worry about getting ready for Christmas, I hope to get more chapters out before the end of January. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I am entirely too young to be Stephenie Meyer.

Hate

It had been exactly a year since Alec had been cold-heartily murdered. Aro had promised that he would have his killer hunted down. Yet there had been nothing really done about it. All they knew was that his cape and crest were found on the sea shore of the Eastern Coast of Aruba.

Jane slowly headed to the tower. After the first few months of being purely possessed by rage, she settled into a deep depression. Everything was bland to her. Even the young, O+, blonde-haired males that were her favorites. She lived solely for her brother, and after a year of the Elders doing nothing to bring about justice, she was ready to bring her own.

The old, cold hallways were somewhat of a comfort to her. They didn't ask why she was moping. They just accepted her and let her move in peace. But, not everyone was a hallway.

"Demetri, if you are going to sneak up on me, walk more quietly, and don't breathe. Surely you, the great tracker, know that." Jane frostily spoiled the taller vampire's fun.

"You know Jane, not everyone listens so intently as you do. I sneak up on Felix all the time." He retorted.

The pseudo young girl ignored him and just kept walking. All were called upon to be in the tower this day, and tardiness was only acceptable when dealing with a prisoner twice one's size.

Climbing the stairs one by one, Jane and Demetri slowly made it to the highest room in the tallest tower. Slowly being in about a minute for close to three hundred steps. They stepped in the room together, where all in all, twenty-five gathered- after the incident with the Cullens, some of the guard questioned their place and lost their lives- including the wives. The gathering was to decide who would stay at the castle and who would be guarding the Heads while they honeymooned. Again.

"Jane, dear! So nice for you to make it. Right exactly on time too." Aro called from the center of the room, only slightly peeved.

"I knew I would make it in time Master. Forgive me if I was supposed to be here earlier and didn't know it." Only Jane could get away with saying something so cheekily to one of the Elders. She moved to him and placed her hand in his.

"Ah. So it wasn't all your fault dear, sad one. Don't worry Demetri, you did not hinder her. You are in no fault." Eyes closed, Aro watched Jane's memories of the last minute. Releasing his pet's hand, he stood on the dais. "And now for the task at hand. Caius, Athenodora, Sulpicia, and I will be going on our three thousandth anniversary/ honeymoon trip. Caius and Athenodora will be going to Australia, and Sulpicia and I shall be going to Sweden. Renata, of course, will be attending my trip along with Chelsea, Afton, Renauld, Emile, Jacques, Kevin, Amelia, Bob, and the two young ones. Jane, Demetri and Heidi will be staying with Marcus. If your name was not called you are going with Caius. You have five minutes to pack. GO."

Jane watched as Aro stepped over to Sulpicia and gently kissed her on her forehead. She bustled from the room. It wasn't that she liked Aro, but seeing any form of affection annoyed her. Running back to her room, she turned on her laptop.

When it became apparent to her that the Elders did not care what happened to her brother, she took it upon herself to find her brother's killer. The one clue she had was his water-proof cell phone. Aro was hesitant to use them, but the cellular phones turned in to a great asset. Alec had taken a picture of something shortly before he died. She contacted the carrier, Horizon, and was able to remotely pull all the data from his phone. The picture was grainy thanks to the amount of water surrounding it. But after three months of close examination and pixel enhancement, she had a nearly clear image.

In the image were three young people. Two females and one male. Only the torsos showed. The male wore no shirt, the females wore halter style swim tops that matched in pattern but were inverted in color. The faces were clear enough for her to scan them through the different international databases. The male and the lighter haired female were both dead, date of death said a year ago. The darker haired female was listed as having died three days prior, which just so happened to be when Jane was in her hometown planning to catch her.

The names were Conner Neptus, Raya Aquamente, and Kelly Fox. After searching the other two extensively, and first, Jane decided that Kelly was the one to kill Alec. She was the only one who survived. Because of the timely death, Jane decided that the girl must have had some sort of forewarning that she was coming. Now there was only one person who could possibly help her, as little as she wanted to admit it. Demetri was the bane of her existence. He was always trying to baby her and otherwise generally annoy her.

Maybe, if she played her cards right, she could talk him into doing this task for her. It shouldn't be too hard, but she had never tried to flirt before. That would mean she would have to talk with her only other female housemate for the next two months. Heidi. Lovely.

Jane started out of her room towards Heidi's. Why they each needed their own rooms, she could not fathom. Though it could be that since there were enough rooms for them each to have two… Heidi's room was very decorated, as opposed to Jane's room that just had a colorful bedspread. Heidi's room was a bright blue, but you couldn't see it for all the posters of Kellan Lutz on her walls. There were flower arrangements everywhere and her clothes were flowing out of her closet. The tall brunette vampire was lounging on complementary blue-colored chase lounge.

"Hello Jane. To what can I owe this appearance?" Heidi fluttered.

"Heidi, I need help. Yes, I said help. I need to know how to flirt." Jane replied with all the dignity she could muster.

"Why do you need to flirt? And with whom? Oh! Janey has a crush!" Heidi questioned giggling.

"I need to flirt because I would rather not cause someone pain. And I shall attempt this flirtation with Demetri. I do not have a crush on him, I am in need of his services." Jane very formally informed her colleague.

"His services?" Heidi raised her eyebrows. "His what kind of services?"

"Oh get your head of the gutter! He is a tracker. I need him to find someone for me. Ugh." Jane was too flustered with the sudden change of conversation to keep her voice level.

"Okay, this is no fun; just bat your eyelashes a lot. And smile, do not forget to smile. I think giggling might not be appropriate for this. Be polite, but not formal. And don't try to be seductive. That will not help _your_ case." Heidi was really getting into her advice.

Jane's eyes grew and grew with each word spoken. This flirting thing was going to be harder than it appears. "So I just bat my eyelashes and smile. How in the WORLD is that going to help? He is just going to think that I have an irritant in my eye."

Heidi just shook her head. "You are going to do it, and it is going to work. Now, he already likes you, but you don't want to give him the wrong impression. So, bat your eyes and smile that sweet little smile." Jane tried. "No, that's a grimace." Jane pictured Kelly's face when Demetri caught her. "That's better. Now go get what you want from the man." With that, Heidi shoved the little one out of her room and slammed the door.

_Smile and bat, smile and bat. All I have to do is smile and bat. And somehow convince him to do this._ Jane walked down the corridors once again. But this time, she was walking with more purpose. As she passed the gate to the garage, a voice called out to her.

"Jane dear, I have a final word for you."

"Yes Aro?" Jane played the submissive servant, always.

"Dear, I know this has been a rough year. I want you to stay in the castle. If you must hunt, don't go alone. Don't do anything rash. Just stay here. Do you understand?" He seemed genuinely concerned for her. Ha.

"Yes master, I understand. I will not leave the castle. You have my word." Jane replied, not touching him.

"Good young one. We will be back before you know it. Have fun." With that he left climbing into one of the many limousines waiting to take the entourage to the landing strip.

Finally Jane was able to continue on her mission. Her master was gone and she didn't have to worry about him peeking over her shoulder. With her courage regained, she ran up the five flights of stairs up to Demetri's room. She could do this. And would. She was the most feared member of the Volturi. She was brave. Ha.

She nearly knocked on the door five times, walking away each time. Then the door opened. The tall, lean vampire leaned out the door.

"Jane? I thought I heard someone. What's going on?" Jane had never come to his room before. She always said something about the smell…

"Oh, I thought that I would see what your doing the next few weeks." _Remember : Smile and bat._ "What I mean to say is, Aro asked me not to leave, but I need to find someone and thought you might could help?"

Demetri's eyes widened at her attempted flirting. He wasn't really paying any attention to what she was saying, just the fact that she was smiling for the first time in a year. AND she was smiling at him. For him maybe.

"Um, Demetri? I asked if you would help me. And you haven't answered." Jane was confused! He was tuning her out, and she wanted his attention.

"Sure I'll help you. How am I helping you?" He would do anything if it meant she smiled. Heck, he'd do the monkey dance, in a monkey suit, to the One Hundred Monkeys music. And eat a banana.

"I need you to find this girl for me." Jane handed him the picture.

The tracker looked down at the picture, memorizing the face, getting a feel for the young girl. She looked so insanely happy, as if she had just gotten the best news in the world.

"This girl? Why?"

"I want you to find her for me. Her name is Kelly Fox. She is from Tennessee, but wasn't around her address when I got there before being called back in. Will you bring her here for me?" Jane's eyes pleaded. She was willing to inflict pain if she had to, but it wasn't needed. All she had to do was beg.

"I'll do it. I won't come back until I have her in hand. That's a promise." Demetri wanted to grab her shoulders and reassure her, but knew now wasn't the time. "I'll get my bag and go now so I can get her back here as soon as possible."

Jane smiled. "Thank you Demetri. I, I don't know what I'd do with out you." _Okay Jane girl, maybe just a bit strong there. You don't want to give him the wrong impression._

* * *

Demetri was on the next Trans-Atlantic flight to the states. He had a first class seat to himself. The row before and behind him he also purchased so that the closed, re-circulated air wouldn't bother him as bad. Plus he had a good snack three towns over. He studied the file that Jane had given him. There was a lot of information in there. Kelly was home schooled until she graduated the past May.

She was enrolled in the local community college, but died in a tragic car accident three days ago, along with her cousin, Tobi. Typically, when someone dies in such an accident, it is a rouse. His bet was that she found out Jane was coming for her and skedaddled out of there. The cousin could really be dead, but Kelly was a Southern girl, and they have tighter bonds of family than just about anywhere. So, two young girls on the run, Kelly had her license, but no car. The one that the "Bodies" were found in was completely destroyed. If they were on foot Jane would have her and this mess would be done.

"Can I get you something to drink sir?" The stewardess asked in a very heavy Italian accent.

"No thanks, I'm fine." He replied tersely. Her face dropped.

"Is there anything I can help you with then?"

"Actually, if you could get me the code to access the plane's WiFi, I'd appreciate it." He threw a wink in for good measure.

"Most certainly. Its V-R. Good luck with your search." She left him alone then thankfully. He couldn't hardly resist her scent, it was so luscious.

He pulled up his internet and accessed the TDOT website. He searched her license number then the fun began. He knew codes that let him access her social, and every piece of information ever recorded electronically about her. She had traveled out of the country once with the Aquamente family and that was to the Mexican Gulf.

It wasn't hard for him to formulate where she was likely to go. Just before the wreck was said to have taken place, she received a call from Manchester, New Hampshire. Accessing the Volturi's tracking page, the Cullens moved near that area. They lived in the White Mountain National Forest.

But how could this girl possibly know the Cullens? She was some kind of vigilante in the South. The Cullens have never lived in the South. It was too sunny, and there was the vampire-wars deal.

The long flight ended and he arrived at the Nashville International Airport. He just had his brief case and small overnight bag. A quick flash of the bad-boy grin, and passport, guaranteed his car to be waiting outside. It awaited him via valet. It was a 1995 cherry red Ferrari, manual, leather seats.

He drove to the small town where Kelly was from, and found her scent at the house. It was fishy. Odd. The smell was still traceable from the car. He followed it to the wreck site, from there to a small cave near by. In the cave, there were several well hidden compartments. Only someone who knew where to look, or a vampire who could smell trace scents could find. In the first one he saw several I.D.s, of which none had pictures but the same physical description.

"Well, Little Kelly had a secret life, or quite a few. Good job Demetri. Thanks Demetri. You did good work yourself." If you had no one to praise you, sometimes you had to praise yourself. It was not a sign of insanity.

He cleared out all the paperwork from the cave, which happened to have a spring in the back, and headed for the north. Most of the files mentioned places up north, so it would be the best place to start.


	8. Day Four

Disclaimer: Do I have to admit it? Really? Who's gunna make me? HUH?

Day Four

_Night time in the Cullen house, three in the morning next day after chapter before last:_

Even was curled up in bed, having her extremities as far away from the wall and headboard as possible. She was talking in her sleep per usual.

"Trees, trees, go away, come again some other…"

She was dreaming that she was in a forest. All was calm, but she would much rather be in the ocean that was taunting her with its cries. She took off running becoming more and more frantic about finding the ocean. In the bed, her arms flailed and her right forearm became wedged between the mattress and the headboard.

The dream shifted, she went from running through the woods to being the woods. She was a tree. A tall, pristine tree, full of life and branches. Her roots stretched out deep and her leaves tickled the sky. Squirrels made nests in her hollows, birds in the crooks of her "elbows". The sun was streaming down filling her with its heat.

A noise started up near her roots. She could see the two-legged creatures walking below her. They had some strange devise in their hands. She asked her sisters what this was, and they did not know. It was loud! Suddenly, a sharp pain began near her feet. Oh how it hurt! It went deeper and deeper. She wanted to scream but couldn't figure out how, as in most dreams. The pain was excruciating! Her leaves were curling in from the pain, the critters that made her their home were abandoning ship. She tried shaking her branches at the men but all she could do was feel the pain!

oOo

All the vampire couples were doing what they do, when a sudden scream aroused them from their current states. They made it to the floor where the screams were coming from, along with the pack and Kelsie, when another pitch came out of nowhere. The vampires were sent to the floor in agony. The scream had taken on a double pitch the second was so high the windows began breaking.

Kelsie looked at the vampires she had known for barely a day. They were writhing on the floor in pain, yet she only hear simple screaming. Jake was checking on them having never seen anything like it. Brady put his arm around her.

"What's going on?" She had to scream herself to be heard.

"I don't know Kels. I guess it's Even screaming." Brady led her towards the door only to be pushed out of the way by Embry.

oOo

Embry had been out running patrol, and was circling back towards the house when he heard her start to scream. He shifted as he ran into the house. He ran up the stairs in record time, and when he reached her room, shoved whoever was in his way out.

Even's arm was contorted behind her back. Her face pure, unadulterated pain. But she was still asleep. She began kicking trying to stop some unknown opponent. When she tried to move the arm that was pinned, her screaming doubled intensity.

Embry grabbed Even's waist and held her still. Then bent the mattress so that her arm would come free. The whole time she was still screaming, yet no tears even surfaced in her eyes. He cradled her to his chest and rocked her back and forth.

"Its okay Even. Its okay. You can wake up now. Please. It was just a dream, Honey."

She stopped screaming and everyone flooded into the room. She still had her eyes shut and was shuddering. Embry held the poor girl closer trying to calm her body. With agonizingly slowness, her tremors stopped. She opened her eyes and looked up at Embry.

"Even? Are you okay?" a very scared Kelsie queried.

"YOU! You were killing me! You had a, a, a saw! You were chopping me down, you no good son-of-a--!" Even started hitting Embry's chest exclaiming in anger, and ending her phrase in a wordless screech.

Embry tried to hold her closer, but she quivered at the close contact. "Sweetie, I wasn't trying to kill you. I have no saw with me. It was a bad dream…"

"Embry, you might want to let her go before she, uh, dismembers you…" Jasper advised sensing her increasing fury.

"WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?!?" Kelsie was losing her patience. She did not like being kept out of the know. Not only had she been uprooted from her home and family, been given a new identity, and told that the current most popular teen book series was real, but her only point of reference just emitted a sound that brought vampires to the floor.

"Kelsie, Even is what is known as a tacto-kenipathic. When she touches an inanimate object, she sees, feels, experiences what the object did. So if she were to touch one of the walls, she could see everything that has happened in this room. Does that make sense?" Jasper answered, having talked to the girl about it the most next to Carlisle.

"I guess… Even? Are you okay?" Kelsie answered and questioned. Even was standing two feet away from Embry, still shaking. She listened to everything around her, trying to sort out her feelings from those she 'borrowed'.

Despite Jasper's warning, Embry had not let go of Even for the world. She was fuming at him, her red tangle adding to the effect. Instead of answering verbally, for fear of releasing words that have been pent up for a year, Even just nodded. Then Esme stepped closer into the room.

"You lot need to leave her be. Kelsie, go back to bed, along with everyone else who can sleep. Yes, you too Jake, I'll take the patrol. Everyone else? To your rooms now. Even needs her space." She ordered her kids around with a smug ease. And proceeded to wait until they had all left.

Embry was still holding Even bridal style. She was still very angry. When Esme looked pointedly at Embry then the door, he shook his head and nodded to his imprint. Esme got the message: Don't make me leave her. She needs someone. Okay, so she embellished a little, but the same bare essentials. She walked out of the room quietly and closed the door behind her.

It was only three twenty, and yet it seemed like hours since the first tree entered anyone's dreams. The moonlight sneaked in behind the curtains on the window, adding an ambience to the room. Had one not known the situation, it would be possible to misinterpret the two late-teens as a love sick couple, they were staring at each other so intently.

Even was mentally reprimanding herself. _You aught to know better Even Phiscese! You could have kept all that screaming to yourself, and not let the Cullens know about the whale pitches. You stupid, stupid girl. And yelling at Embry! He is only trying to help! __**But he was trying to cut me! HE was inflicting all that pain! Don't you dare lecture me, angel on the other side of the head. **__Oh great, now I'm arguing with myself to top it all off._

Embry was beginning to get worried about her. She had her face half buried into his chest, and she had suddenly screwed her eyes shut, and was flinching. He restarted the rocking that he had done initially. He hated that he seemed to be the cause of this current pain. He wanted nothing more than to bring a smile to her face. Kelsie and Nessie were the only ones that brought a real smile, or laugh for that matter to the girl's face today. A thought occurred to him belatedly.

_Oh no, what if I'm making her sea-sick? Idiot, she's a mermaid, they don't get sea-sick. Suck it up and talk to her already._

He stared at her some more. Her forehead smoothed a little, and he drew strength from that. "Even? Are you ready to talk?" it wasn't much of a question, but it was what he had come up with.

She took a deep breath and let it out with a huff. "I'm sorry. When I am awakened from a memory-dream, it usually is harsh for whomever is around. But you were trying to kill me in the sense that I was the tree." She looked frustrated again.

"I'm sorry I terrified you in you're a, memory-dream?" He questioned the term, not his fault. He looked her directly in the eyes.

"I know that its difficult to deal with, but I still have the emotions of the object. And I'm not tree hugging on you either. I don't have a problem with it, just that I _was _the tree." Her voice trailed off as she spoke. Even snuggled down into his warmth. Though it was summer, it was much cooler this far north than she was used to growing up in Tennessee and the equatorial Atlantic.

"Hmm, I guess that makes sense."

Embry noted her breathing. It was smoother, her body was more relaxed. She had very quickly fallen back to sleep. He snuggled her closer for a minute, then tried to lay her on the bed. The second he tried to extricate himself from her arms, she clung tighter and frowned.

_Fine then, my fish, I'll stay with you._ With these parting thoughts, Embry snuggled down for the night.

_|_

Even was hot. As in it felt like she was wearing sweat pants, with her electric blanket on. She reached to throw the covers off, only to find they were off. Opening her eyes, she realized that she was snuggled into someone, and he was the source of heat. Her next thought was: "_Oh crap! I'm wearing shorts and a tank!" _She tried to jerk off of him, but he wrapped his arm around her more tightly. Even craned her neck to see which of the monstrous, giant space heaters was holding her so close. It was Embry Gavin Call. _Well, crap. _Upon further inspection, Embry's face looked extremely relaxed, child-like almost.

Grinning, Even decided to experiment. She started pulling away again. His arm tightened and his face frowned. She snuggled in, he really was comfortable, though he was possibly going to give her heat stroke… His face smoothed out again. She waited a few moments before trying again. This time, she jerked more, but still couldn't shake his arm. And he grunted. Embry rolled to his side and tried to turn her so that her back was to him. Enough was enough.

"Embry." She rolled over so that she was not facing him. His desire was granted.

"Embry, I need you to wake up." He found the edge of the blanket and covered them up.

"Embry! Wake up!" He covered her mouth with his hand.

"MWEMBRWY!" He chuckled, but didn't release her mouth.

"Even, we can sleep longer you know," he finally replied sleepily.

Even grabbed his hand and shoved it from her mouth. "Well, if you want me to pee all over you that's your prerogative. But I really like these shorts, and I fear Esme's wrath and do not want to hear about this forever from Emmett. Please let me go."

He let her up in a hurry. Glancing at the clock, he noted that it was ten in the morning. Dang, half the day was just wasted. Instead of getting to know her, he almost smothered her. But it was the best night's sleep he had ever had. That was counting the time when he was ten and found Mom's boyfriend's three-quarters full beer sitting on the floor…and proceeded to drink himself to sleep.

The bed had come completely unmade from Even's thrashing before the scream, and from where his feet hung off the end when he lay on the bed straight. It's not too hard to remake a bed. Embry quickly folded the sheets under the mattress and shoved the quilt in too, just for good measure. He lay back down on the bed, hoping that Even would decide to come back to bed. Yeah, it sounded perverted, but he hadn't slept half that decently since before two years ago. And Shape-shifters are known (locally to very few people who were in on the secret) to be the easiest sleepers. He rearranged the pillows so that they weren't lying on each other. There! He made the bed. His mom would be so proud.

Even was just walking into the room when she noticed what he had done to the bed. He ruined it. Totally ruined it. Instead of the crisp smooth edges, he had just shoved the ends of the sheets under the mattress and it looked like half of each was under the mattress! How was someone supposed to sleep on that?! Even turned to glare at him. He looked so proud of himself.

"What? I made the bed for you." BOYS could be such idiots at times.

"You call that making the bed?! That is desecrating the bed. You practically burned a small child on that! Now make it right!" Even made her point very clear.

"What is the big deal? I tucked the sheets in and straightened the pillows?" Embry was confused. That was all that his mom had required of him growing up.

"You're kidding me right? That is not all that is required! You have to make sure that the edges are all neatly tucked under the mattress and that the blanket rests just under the side of the mattress! The pillows have to be square with the headboard," Even vented.

"Um. Military dad?" That was the only possible explanation in Embry's mind

"No, well, yes, but I am military. Was. Something like that. Since age eleven, I have been in military environment where proper bed making is essential. If your bed wasn't made right, then it was five minutes of wall sits. Do you know how hard it is to do a wall sit underwater? You have to hold a twenty pound weight to stay in the right position. It was torture. Plus it usually meant that you didn't get all of breakfast. That was never good. If you didn't get all of breakfast, you didn't always have enough fuel to get through the day. You learn fast with those kinds of conditions." Even shuddered as she finished her little speech.

Embry was just staring at her. He believed her, but didn't want to. The more he thought about it, he started to shake.

Grinding out each word he said, "They made you miss breakfast so that you wouldn't have enough energy to make it through the day? Just over a bed? At eleven?!"

Even gaped at him. She hadn't seen a wolf begin to lose control quite like that before. His fists looked like the fingers aught to have been broken from the pressure exerted on them. "Embry, dude, its okay. I only didn't make my bed right once. Its fine, really." She didn't know what compelled her so, but she put her arm on his shoulder.

Embry wrapped her in his embrace. Even was shocked yet again this morning, but let him (that's called female intuition). "How about we go eat something. You look hungry. Do you like eggs?" his voice sounded like very controlled wrath.

"I'm sorry about the bed. I shouldn't have said anything. I wouldn't have if I knew I'd get this reaction. Yes I like eggs. And I am hungry." She wrapped her arms around his waist since he wasn't letting go of her. "And just so you know, I drink milk with my breakfast. You don't want to see me without it. It's like my coffee."

The pair walked downstairs, somewhat awkwardly, yes. They were greeted by knowing looks, curious glances, and plain indifference. Oddly, Carlisle was still missing. He wasn't there yesterday morning when she woke up, nor when she passed out, nor when Brady ran through the door. Everyone else was present and accounted for. Wolves, Kelsie, and Nessie had plates piled with food, though Nessie really didn't look happy about it. Kelsie nearly broke the plate trying to get it down in time to hug her cousin.

"Good morning! What in the world happened last night? Hum? You owe me some answers little missy!"

"Kelsie. Good morning to you too. I just had a bad dream last night, that's all." At this Edward snorted. "Yes, Eddie, it was an unconventional dream, but still. I was not a tree, am not a tree, and shall not be a tree. Unless I play the part in a play, that would be cool. I'd be a very Zen tree." Here she was nudged by her attachment. "Right, okay so I touched" Embry grunted and raised an eyebrow at her. "I managed to wedge myself against the wooden headboard. Since my forearm was against it, I couldn't subconsciously block the connection." Even bobbed her head like that would be self explanatory.

The younger ones in the crowd, minus Bella, looked at her blankly. Seth asked, "Um, why does it matter what part of your arm touched it?"

"Oh, the skin is thinner and less calloused. The thinner the skin, the harder to block inanimate memories. It has to do with the number of dead skin cells or something like that. I'm a one of a kind so we can't really do much research." Even looked around the room. "Where's Uncle Carlisle?"

Esme, Alice and Edward looked sheepish. Jasper was concentrating very hard on keeping everyone level-headed. Rosalie and Emmett were off in TV land (the Munsters was on) and Bella looked annoyed. Alice then raised her hands in a 'NO-way-am-I-telling' manner. Edward motioned the way for Esme.

"Carlisle was called in for a special case a little further um, South?" She started out just fine, but as she neared the end, she faltered. This gave her away.

Even answered very carefully. "How far South Esme?" She also stepped away from Embry, but he kept hold of her hand.

"Um, pretty deep?"

"Did he go to Habakkuk?"

"Yes?" Esme really didn't want to tell her. She tried to stop her husband from interfering further, but he simply said that if it was one of his kids, or Nessie, he would want his 'brother' to do the same.

"WHY? He had no right to do that! He is not my father! In fact, my own father wouldn't even do that!" Even fumed. Like every girl named Grace would tell you, it usually works in reverse.

Jasper stood up and put a hand on Even's shoulder. He focused on calm thoughts, waterfalls, falling snow, anything that he thought could calm the fireball. "You really don't want to blow up on us. That would be incredibly messy to clean up, plus it would traumatize Nessie and Kelsie." He managed to make her calm down a little, but just a little. And everyone else in the world was also effected. To say they were calm, would be like saying the Sahara was a little warm.

"Sorry Esme, I over reacted. Can you forgive me?" Even shrugged out of both grips on her and touched Esme's hand, surreptitiously touching her wedding band. From the ring's perspective, she saw/heard what happened.

_Carlisle was standing at the dresser packing a bag of light-weight, long clothes. His back was to Esme. _

"_Carlisle, I really don't think you aught to meddle dear."_

"_Esme, love, I have to. Just think if it was Edward, or Rosalie, or one of the other children missing, and we hadn't heard from them in a year? Would you want Habakkuk to let us know if they showed up at his door step?" Carlisle replied turning to place his hands on his beloved's shoulders._

_Esme looked up at her husband. "I think you should ask Even first. If she hasn't talked to him, she must have not for a good reason. She is fragile, Nessie could even see it. If her grandparents show up, it could cause her permanent damage to her psyche. She wouldn't recover." It broke her heart to think of what would have happened to cause her niece to revert into this shell of who she was._

_Carlisle pulled her into a tight embrace. "I'll warn him. I'll let him make the decision. I won't force him to come."_

"_And there is nothing I can say to convince you otherwise?"_

"_No love. But if you could try to pull her out of her shell a little? And call if anything changes?" Carlisle knew it was really redundant to ask, but felt he needed to._

_Esme smiled. "Okay, dear. I shall. It's too bad that Harry Potter isn't real. Then I could just slip some Vertiserum in her milk and get all the story out of her."_

_Carlisle chuckled at the thought. He kissed her full on the lips, then headed out to the Mercedes. He was going to save his great-niece._

The memory ended, and Even hugged her great-aunt. Then she turned to Embry with her left eyebrow raised, "I do believe that you owe me an egg surprise."

"Only if you tell me a story. I think that Kelsie and Nessie would like to hear one too." Embry led her to the kitchen and the Sie's gave him conspiratorial winks. He just earned some major brownie points.

"Okay, I'll give you one story, but I get to eat, and I have veto power." Even allowed the girls to pull her onward.

While Embry began cooking the eggs, Even sat at the bar with Kelsie on one side, and Nessie on the other. Kelsie looked expectant, because she wanted to learn about her cousin's secret life; Nessie looked the same, but she just liked stories.

"Which story would you two hyper-girlies want to hear?" Even looked from one to the other.

Nessie spoke up, "I want to hear about how you saved Mommy and Daddy's wedding. Aunt Rose says that it would have been a disaster without you."

Kelsie shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

Embry joined the conversation, placing cheddar cheese on the scrambled egg sandwich he was making. "Mayonnaise? And I've always wanted to hear how that went. I was there, but I just got to see the party, not the ceremony."

"Yes to the mayonnaise. Okay. I can tell you the story, though I know nothing about saving the wedding." Even answered. Embry passed her the sandwich and a glass of milk. Taking a big bite, Even began her story around the eggs.

"towo ywers agol,--" She was stopped by exclamations of "We can't understand you! Swallow first!" She swallowed then continued. "This is a really good sammy. Okay, take two."

"Two years ago, I was approached by my king/grandfather. He said that he had received an invitation to his best-friend's son's wedding. He would have gone, but at the same time and day, he was meeting with the Minister of Australian Oceania. He wanted it to be family, but my grandmother was to attend with him, leaving me. He gave me Twilight, New Moon, and the transcript of Eclipse to get a feel for Bella and Edward. Then he said words that made my day, week, no, made my life up to that point. He said that I was being promoted to Ambassador along with my team." Embry raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"Just for clarification, what exactly does an Ambassador do?" He looked honestly intrigued.

"In Mer-culture, an Ambassador is everything from assassin, to representative, to spy. So we are highly trained to do what ever is required of us. My first job as an Ambassador, was the 'wedding of the century'. It was also my first solo mission. Due to hostilities between Atlantic's, and Pacific's, only one of us could get close to the shore. The rest of my team waited Kalspell, Montana so if anything arose, they would be fairly close. When I arrived, I over heard Alice freaking out about some singing friend of hers that couldn't make it. Rosalie was yelling back that she absolutely refused to sing at Bella's wedding, saying that she didn't want to outshine the bride. I walked up to the door of that impressive house and Jasper opened the door and said 'THANK GOD! A reasonable person! You've got very calm emotions. I'm Jasper, nice to meet you ma'am.' I think I stared at him for a minute before responding. It took me that long to get over my shock, and the fact that he was gorgeous, southern and speaking to me! Then I regained my thought processes and replied. 'It's nice to meet you Jasper. My name is Even Phiscese, I am supposed to let Carlisle Cullen know that I'm here… Can you help with that?' He led me inside and introduced me to the good doctor. There have been several times I have been thankful for more durable bones than the average human, and when he heard my last name was one of them. Carlisle immediately asked my heritage, and I obliged. Then I was hugged nearly to death. He then introduced me to Esme, who was very concerned for my wellbeing. They seemed offended when I asked what I could do to help, but Alice, the little conniving control freak that she is, asked me if I sang. 'Does an octopus have eight legs?' I replied. Then I had to explain that it was a common 'DUH!' answer for me.

"She gave me a song list, and left me with Rose. We worked great together. She plays an amazing piano. She asked if I played, and I wouldn't after she played. We were figuring out a transition when the boys came back, with Eddie. I was telling Rose to try the diminished three chord, and Eddie-pooh had to stick his nose in! He said we didn't need to used a diminished chord because it would sound too melancholy.--" Nessie raised her hand this time. "Yes Nez?"

"Why do you call Daddy Eddie even though nobody, even Momma gets away with that? And I like Nez." Renesmee smiled up at Even.

"I was getting to that. I made a bet with him. I said, 'Okay, if the chord doesn't work, we will do what ever chord you want us to play, soon-to-be-husband-who-isn't-supposed-to-be-involved-with-the-music. And it does sound right, I get to call you any nick-name of my choosing any day of the week. And we get to use the chord.' He agreed not knowing my chord choosing skills. So now he is Eddie, or some variation.

"The next big struggle, was the next morning when I got dressed. I picked a very simple green dress that stopped just below the knee, no sleeves, and a sweet-heart neckline. The color and cut looked great on me, and paired with my white heeled flip-flops, the outfit was a stunner. But Alice is Alice. She can't see me, seeing as I'm a half-breed like y'all, but still managed to get me a dress she thought would be better. We argued for at least half an hour before Rose and Esme had to separate us. It wasn't that the dress wasn't beautiful, I just didn't want to wear something that expensive. The klutziness is not an act. I can't hardly walk a straight line unless I'm in battle mode." Even closed her eyes and remembered the dress. It was a bronze colored, full-length strapless number. Fitted her perfectly, except for it being short-waisted.

"Rose finally convinced me that I would be fine, she'd keep me from making any big messes. Then Alice left to get Bella. I don't think I've seen anyone more nervous. I helped calm her down. Though Jasper really helped the most. I think what helped her from my end was the promise that if she had a klutz moment, I would do something stupider. That earned a laugh. The actual wedding flew by fast. In no time it was the first dance. I had sung Unforgettable before, but never as a solo. It had always been a duet. They swirled around so beautifully, it was hard not to tear at the sight. Then I heard, well, you actually Embry, and notice Eddie lead Bella off to the side. Rose whispered that 'the mutt' was here. We deviated from the list and sang Blue October's Congratulations. It seemed to fit.

"After the blissful couple left, the real party began. That was when the fearsome threesome was born. Rosalie, Tanya and I started singing Andrew Sister's songs. They were so shocked to find out how many I knew. We did some of everything. It was well after three in the morning before they let me go to bed. And that was only because I nearly passed out on them!" Even smiled at the memories she was sharing. But it still didn't reach her eyes.

Alice chose this moment to walk in. "If you are done eating, and telling tales about my cruelty, can we please get you and Kelsie some proper clothing? Its two in the afternoon! We have until five to get you a whole new wardrobe."

Kelsie looked surprised, "What happens at five?"

"They unveil the sunroof at the mall and the sun actually shines."

Embry took notice of her vision. "I thought you couldn't see when Even was around. And yesterday you knew that I was coming to talk to you. What's up with that?"

Alice had been wondering about this herself. It was unusual that she could have a full vision around her niece and the pack period. But add in Even and she shouldn't be able to see much beyond static. "I don't know. I think it must be a change in Even, or me. I can't think of any other factors. OH! And we need to let Tanya know that you are here! She'll want to kill someone if she doesn't find out soon."

Even looked to Kelsie. "It looks like we get a new wardrobe. There is no successful way to argue with Alice."

"As long as I get to have some say in my style I'm cool with that."

Embry looked really hesitant. "Why don't I come with you? It would be safer plus you won't be completely bored."

Turning to him, Even said, "Safer? Ha, with Alice there? And what am I chopped liver? You don't have to come. It might be too girly for ya."

Embry glared at her. "I'm coming." With that they piled into the Porsche and headed to the mall.

o0o

The group returned from the mall around four-thirty. Even was sitting up front, Embry in the back behind Alice. Kelsie and Nessie were also sitting in the back, but they were very quiet. Trying to glare a hole through the windshield, Even was barely holding in the torrent of loathsome words threatening to spill. Embry was glaring at Even because she wasn't talking.

The young teen and young child raced into the house hoping to get away from the tension in the car.

"You two need to talk this out. And if things get too heated, stop talking and just calm down." Alice looked from one to the other. She knew that they were both over reacting, but they had to work this out. If they didn't her vision of Even walking down the aisle in a beautiful white dress would never happen. "And please, don't hurt the car."

Alice went into the house after seeing that Even and Embry both removed themselves to a safe distance away from her baby. The two continued their glaring contest, and both thought '_If looks could kill…'_ Even took a deep breath, then let the torrent flow.

"You had no right to yell at me in the Mall!"

"No right? You disappeared. You could have been snatched away, raped, who knows! How was I supposed to know that you were okay?" Embry yelled right back.

"Do I really look like I can't handle myself? It may have been a year, but I'm still stronger than most men!" Even held her arms out in a 'I have nothing to hide' manner.

"No you don't. You scared the crap outta me! How was I supposed to know that you can't pass a book store without going into one? I haven't known you for more than a day! And you've spent that ignoring me!" Embry pointed an accusatory finger at the fuming red.

"My point exactly! You don't know me! You have no right to be this possessive of me. My boyfriend wasn't even this possessive! EMBRY! I have been taking care of myself for a long time!" Even poked him in the chest, hard.

"I don't care what your previous boyfriend did, or didn't do. You aren't going to repeat this. You aren't going to just run off in the mall like that again!" Embry grabbed her hand right after she poked him.

Even twisted her hand out of his and raced from the forest to the house. He followed her. Though she didn't say his name out loud, just thinking about what Conner would do had her feeling faint. Being extremely furious didn't help at all.

"What am I, five? I'm not some child whose hand has to be held." When Embry tried to grab her waist, she shot him a mean left hook. "LEAVE ME ALONE! EDWARD!"

Edward, who had of course been listening to both the thoughts and words that the 'couple' had been sharing wasn't startled to hear his name paged.

"I can hear a distance of five miles out. If you go south-southwest you shouldn't run into anything. I'll tell Jake and Collin that you aren't to be disturbed. But, if you aren't back in two hours I'm coming for you."

"Thanks, I can't deal with anymore of this right now." Even ran up to her room, grabbed a small bag, shoved a jacket, a granola bar and her glasses case in there. She didn't need a flashlight, because she had excellent night vision. Racing out of the house she spared no one a glance.

She ran like she hadn't run in over a year. Her chest ached and her brain was screaming for oxygen. She ran for a good thirty minutes, south-southwest. She ran until she couldn't hear the pack. That should be at least her five miles from Edward.

"GOD! I don't know what to do! It hurts! Embry's anger and missing Conner! I just want the pain to go away! Why won't you take it away?!" Even screamed out her petitioning complaints to her God. "You promised to be with Your children. WHERE ARE YOU?!" She fell to the ground and dry heaved. She hadn't felt the pain this badly in a few months. She wanted to cry, to feel that chemical relief that the tears brought, but she could feel that her tear ducts were dryer than before.

Getting up, she walked to the nearest tree and kicked it as hard as she could. Amazingly, a good chunk flew off the tree, but she felt something snap in her foot. She couldn't believe how far she'd come. A year ago, she would have snapped the tree, not her foot. As she leaned against the tree, she was assaulted by its vision of what just happened.

"Dangit! SHOOT! OUCH!" She screamed, the wordlessly screeched her pain and anger.

Her noise covered up the sound of the intrigued man behind her. He looked smug, she wouldn't fight him now, not with her foot broken.

"Kelly, I'm sorry, but you have to go to sleep now." The tall mystery man raised his fist and he thought barely tapped her. She went out cold. He scooped up the unconscious girl and carried her away.

AN: Six thousand and two words! YAY! This was somewhat difficult to write, but with school about to start (tonight, yuck) I wanted to give you something to tide you over for a while. And please don't kill me for the cliffy. Though I guess you know who mystery man is… anyway, peace, love, and twilight!

themonk


	9. 6:35 PM

DISCLAIMER: I do not own twilight. Probably never will, but my birthday is in April so if anyone wants to give me the rights I will gladly accept them;)

Chapter 9: 6:35 P.M.

Kelsie, Nessie, and Brady were sitting in Kelsie's room admiring her now full closet of clothes. They were organized by color, style, and preference. Who are we kidding, it wouldn't ever stay that way.

"Hey, what time is it?" Kelsie asked Brady who promptly looked outside to try to decipher the placement of the sun.

"Um…"

"Brady, you have a watch on." Nessie pointed out to the nervous wolf.

"Riiight, its six thirty-four." Brady looked nervous and embarrassed now. Seth had made a truce with him, he would try to be busy when Kelsie wasn't. Brady didn't want to mess this up at all.

Kelsie looked worried, then walked out of the room and headed downstairs. "Even should have been back by now…"

Downstairs Emmett was restraining Embry who looked like angry death warmed over. Alice was sitting on the coffee table with her eyes squeezed shut. Jasper was standing over, ever the guardian angel; Rose was receiving glares from Leah. Quil was on the phone, presumably talking with Claire's parents in New York. Jake and Collin were nowhere to be seen. Esme was roaming between windows, and Edward had Bella in his arms with a rather blank look on his face.

"What's going on guys?" Kelsie asked very hesitantly.

Nessie ran to her mom, and was wrapped in arms instantly. Brady stayed behind Kelsie ready for anything.

Esme came to Kelsie and looked morose. "I'm so sorry dear, but Even seems to have been kidnapped. We tried to track her scent, but couldn't keep it for more than a mile."

The whole room seemed to hold its breath, waiting for her reaction. Kelsie just nodded and walked towards the kitchen.

In the large kitchen, she went to the refrigerator and ripped the door open (if she hadn't been the only human in the house it would have come off the hinges). She rummaged through the contents until she found her poison. A seven-eighths full bottle of Sprite. She pulled back from the fridge and slammed the bottle on the counter. She started opening cabinets trying to find a cup, the bottom ones were baby-proofed and she almost broke the hooks, the top ones were seemingly fruitless and Tupperware fell out of one cabinet. Finally she found a glass and crashed it onto the counter. She stalked back to the fridge to get some ice. The ice maker was stuck so she had to fiddle with it, roughly.

Finally she had her ice in the cup on the counter. She picked up the bottle of Sprite and was about to open it when Brady, who had watched her little performance made his presence known. "Are you okay Kelsie?"

She dropped the bottle. She did not respond, just picked up the bottle and opened it. He would have had a hard time containing his mirth if Kelsie's face wasn't the epitome of pain. The contents squirted out with a vengeance as the top came off. Kelsie was soaked. And very, very furious.

"Am I okay? AM I OKAY?! My only connection to the real world was just kidnapped do you really think I'm okay?!" she capped the bottle and jumped to the refrigerator. As soon as her hands were empty of the bottle they filled with eggs.

She threw one egg at him, shouting, "I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS!" Two eggs followed the first, and he caught them, right in the chest. "I WANT MY COUSIN BACK!!" One more egg was thrown but Brady managed to catch it.

"We are doing everything we can to find her." Brady tried to make his tone as soothing as possible.

Kelsie ran out of eggs, but loaded up on big, juicy, perfectly ripe tomatoes. "Everything?!" a tomato hit Brady on the nose. "EVERYTHING?! Everything is you being out there looking for her, checking any scents around the place! You are not doing everything." She actually looked before she tossed this time, and hit him where the sun don't shine, by accident. She was aiming for his face.

She moved to the counter looking for more ammunition. "Kelsie, please, you probably don't know, but they already looked, we all run very, very fast. Plus Edward has been scanning for every mind with in his reach." Brady was beginning to get very worried for she picked up a banana.

"THAT"S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" She threw the banana unbelievably fast. It was quickly followed by an apple, two oranges and a kiwi. She also managed to drop a kiwi on her foot. Kelsie hopped on one foot cradling the other. She was at the opposite counter that just happened to hold the knife block. Brady started closing in on her. As soon as she pulled out the butcher knife, Brady wrapped his arm around her waist and grabbed her wrist.

"Kelsie, babe, please let go of the knife before you hurt yourself." Brady's voice shook with worry and anxiety.

"NO! I'm not gunna hurt me I'm gonna hurt YOU!" Kelsie started struggling against his hold. "AND I'M NOT YOUR BABE!"

Brady hated that he was about to hurt her. He tightened his fingers against the tendons in her wrist for a few seconds then let go. Her fingers tightened then released due to the pressure. She dropped the knife. Turning in his arms she began sobbing into his chest. Brady held her close with his head resting on hers.

* * *

_Somewhere over the Atlantic at 6:35._

Even had a headache. A bad one, one that threatened to take the right front fourth of her skull off. She tried to move, but her arms were constrained and moving made her head hurt worse. Frantically, she tried to open her eyes but was blind-folded. Forcing relaxation into her bones, she opened her hands around the seat (?) and tried to see through them.

She was in an airplane. A very fancy one at that. Sitting across from her was a very stylish man. Scratch that he was a very stylish vampire. His eyes were closed and his mouth was in a slight smirk. Tall, dark and handsome was his description, except he had that pasty whiteness of vampires. Even found her voice and asked, "So, Mr. Ruiner of my Day, why am I in the air?"

Oh how she wished she had a camera to capture his expression! Once she decided that she was going to be calm, she was fairly calm.

"How did you know I was a man? I could have been a woman, Kelly." His voice had a deep resonant tone that echoed in her head. There was a slight chuckle behind it too. His eyes were bright red, he must have fed very recently. Immediately the limerick every young mer-child is taught flitted through her mind. Eyes of red, make him dead. Eyes of yellow, he is a fellow. Eyes of black, don't turn your back. Every instinct in her body said to fight. Her brain was more logical than her body.

"I'm sorry you didn't hear the news Mr. Ruiner, but Kelly died four days ago. It was a terrible accident," she sounded so remorse; she added a slight shake of her head at the end. Mr. Ruiner's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose.

"Is that so? Well Kelly, you can change your hair, but you can't change your scent. Now, will you please answer my question? How did you know I was a man?" He looked at her intently, hoping he wouldn't have to resort to torture.

"I have x-ray vision." Even stated matter-of-factly.

He laughed a most joyous laugh. "I highly doubt that."

"Aren't you going to test me?" Even smirked, every time she pulled that trick they always fell for it.

"No, you have obviously done this before so I'll not fall for a trap. Now, why didn't you run?" He leaned forward, elbows on knees, face in hands. His hands pushed his cheeks up causing a most comical expression.

"Haha you … have…hahaha… puff-ha-fy… haha… cheeks!" Even couldn't contain her mirth, it was the funniest thing she had seen since, well, since Julian had a fit about not getting to go on boarder patrol with them due to his illness. She quit laughing and was mute almost instantly.

"Puffy cheeks?! My cheeks are the embodiment of perfectly defined cheeks." He reached up to touch them. "Not puffy at all." He sat back in the seat pouting.

Even was sitting as far back in the chair as she could. Her expression was cloudy at best. She couldn't stand to think of that night and hadn't for almost nine months.

"Kelly? Are you okay?"

"No, not really. I hate flying. I'm not supposed to be this high up, it is unnatural. I'm supposed to be in the water. Free, not in a sardine can. And I'd really appreciate it if you didn't call me Kelly Mr. Ruiner." She was feeling the panic coming on.

"I'd prefer not to be called Mr. Ruiner. My name is Demetri Hunter." (**an: I know this isn't his last name but its what he does…)**

"Okay Demetri, I'm Even Phiscese. And I like Ruiner, it's apt." She tried to smile, but her voice wavered. I'd like to say that she was acting this way on purpose, but alas she was not. If she had not been oh say 10,000 feet above sea level she would be having fun, she was sadly, and she was already trying to hyperventilate.

"Ah, Even, but Hunter is also apt. For you see I am a tracker." Demetri looked smug, very smug.

Even tried to gain control over her body. When in doubt, act. Her mom always said, fake it 'til you make it. "So why aren't you Demetri Tracker? Or Volturi? You _are_ the infamous Demetri of the Volturi, right? Now what did I do to tick them off?"

"We shall save that for when we arrive at the castle. Congratulations! You won a free trip to Italy!" Demetri had faster mood changes than a pregnant woman.

"I'm going to give you a word of advice. If you don't want me to start panicking and screaming you will untie and un-blind fold me. Otherwise you will think your ears are bleeding." Even's voice was a step and a half away from being frantic. One more minute of confinement and she would lose it.

Demetri caught her tone and quickly untied the blind fold. She blinked repeatedly. When she screwed her eyes shut, he got up and turned the lights down to low. "Is that better?"

"I said UNTIE and un-blind-fold!"

"I'm not sure if I trust you…" Demetri was staring right into her eyes, noting that she was wearing contacts.

In Greek mythology, a siren was a watery spirit that seduced sailors to their deaths. In reality, every siren was mer, and every mer was a siren. The usually fatal seduction occurred when eye contact was made. Now that the blind fold was off, Even would be able to take control of Demetri, at least for a brief period of time. Even focused on his irises. As soon as she had both of her eyes completely focused on his, she starting accessing the hormonal center of his brain. She started increasing his testosterone level ever so slightly.

"Demetri, why wouldn't you trust me?" sly giggle, "You know you want to." She fluttered her eyelashes slightly and looked up at him from beneath the lashes. "Riddle me this, what color are your eyes?" She asked a test question to be sure she had him in her feminine grips.

Demetri leaned in slightly and his pupils had dilated. "I'd guess they are red right now since I hunted not fifteen minutes before I caught you."

Even giggled again. She had him right where she wanted him; he'd do absolutely anything for her. "That's right Demetri. Now will you do something for me? Pleeeaase?" She added just a touch of whine to her voice. Seducing someone is rather tricky work…

"Anything."

"Good." Giggle. "I need you to untie me." She smothered another giggle.

Demetri bent down and started untie Even. As soon as he did as she asked, Even stood up and stretched. That surely didn't help her headache at all. She sat down almost immediately and motioned for Demetri to do the same.

"You know Deme, you're a lot shorter than I expected you to be." Now that she wasn't bound, Even felt more jovial. The only thing worse than being a few thousand miles above sea level, was being bound a few thousand miles above sea level

"Deme? My mother didn't name me Deme. And I'm not short!" Demetri didn't realize that she had taken control of him for a minute there.

"I didn't say you were short, just shorter." Even smirked at the man. She expected him to be a good foot taller, but she was almost six foot herself. "And I like Deme. Everyone needs a nick-name."

"What is yours? Evy?" Demetri smirked right back at her.

Even looked out the window thoughtfully. The clouds _were_ beautiful, even if she was above them. "Even is my nick-name. I'm named after my father's first fiancé. Her name was Evenia (**an: eh-vin-nya)**. She died a month before they were to be married. So dad married mom and we all lived happily ever after. That is until you showed up and had to be Mr. Ruiner." Even looked back at him with a sad smile on her face. "Love is a force to be reckoned with. My dad turned his back on his people because his beloved died. I am practically doing the same thing. Do you love anyone like that Demetri?"

Demetri looked lost. His face was a black hole of confusion. A few minutes ago they were laughing and joking. Now he was being asked about his love life. Great. "Yes. That's why you are on a plane with me. I love some one whom you caused pain. She asked me to find you so I did. Now I am bringing you back to almost certain death. Though my conscious is telling me to take you to your home, I'm ignoring it to help bring her peace." Thinking about Jane calmed him down some. She was one constant in his life, she would always think him a happy-go-lucky joker, and thus, not worth her time. Now he was the one staring out the window.

"What is her name?" This single piece of information could signify her doom or hope.

"Jane."

Even felt her face fall. That sealed it. Jane was the vampire who could inflict pain with a thought. _Kind of like that vampire last summer in reverse…_ There was no way that Even would be able to by-pass that skill, unless Jane decided to just kill her.

"And how does she feel about you?" Maybe she could pull that string right at the beginning…

"HA! She thinks I'm the biggest pain in the a—buttocks since Napoleon. Why?" He was just shy of snorting.

_Napoleon?_ "The biggest pain since Napoleon? The short, egotistical, French General who tried to take over the world?" Though she knew that vampires "lived" a long time, like mer, she was always astounded when she heard it.

"Yes. That Napoleon. Why do you want to know?" Demetri was wondering about the strange girl in front of him. He liked her. She reminded him a little of his younger sister. _Wow. I haven't thought about Terriana in a very long time._

"If you can keep me alive long enough maybe I can help?" Even asked shyly. She didn't want to upset the man, but she didn't want to die. Not accessing her inner vixen, she sent a pleading look his way.

Demetri could see that she was young, and knew for a fact she was due to all the research he did. His sister was younger than her when he was turned, but she had pleaded with him to not go hunting that day. "I'll do what I can. Last time I turned down a face like that, I was taken from home. But I'm really not sure how you can stop Jane. She has been hunting you down for a year. And driving everyone else crazy."

Even nodded slowly. "Do you think I should offer to tell what happened? I don't know if I can but I could try." Telling what happened that night could kill her. But not telling probably would anyway.

Demetri looked determined. "The others won't be there. It's just me, Jane, Heidi and Marcus. Everyone else is on 'vacation'. So I should be able to hold Jane back, and she will want to know the story. But, we have a few hours before we land. Why don't we watch," he paused to think of a movie that he thought she would hate. "The Lord of the Rings?"

She nodded vigorously. "Which one? Not that it really matters, Orlando Bloom is in them all. And there is a huge fight in them all too."

_Dangit! Stupid Orlando Bloom!_

AN: I was going to go further, but decided to have the big estrogen showdown in chapter 10! I don't think there will be too many more chappies left in this one. I feel bad, not getting this out sooner; I had an idea for the beginning of the story, but major writers block. And then when I had to write a paper for school, I couldn't get this out of my head. So anyways, I got it out. Lame title I know, but it's what I could come up with.

But I'm taking a vote. Sequel or taking Even and her crew to different books? Please let me know!

themonk


	10. Italian Heartbreak

Disclaimer: I am grateful that we are allowed to do whatever we want to other writer's characters on this site. Thus I do not own Twilight or any areas mentioned in this chapter. I do not own any sentence structure or unique wording. I do however, own Even, Kelsie, Conner, Raya, Julian, Habakkuk, Hannah, and any other characters that you might not recognize.

Italian Heartbreak

Jane was sitting in her room still wet from her hot shower. Demetri was taking forever to get back. Yes, he was annoying; yes, he seemed to follow her around the castle. But, he was good at what he does.

She could hear Heidi faintly singing from the library. It was usually a blast when the masters were gone. No one to say "no you can't sing in the library! It's a library your supposed to keep quiet!" or "Don't slide down the banister!" or her personal least favorite thing to hear, "don't go sock sliding! It's improper!" Marcus being there didn't really hamper anything. He just didn't care anymore. She had heard a rumor about why he was so passive, but it was anyone's guess.

Distantly, she heard a thump and skid. Demetri was back! That must mean that he found Kelly! Yes! Oh how she wanted to make that girl pay. No one messed with the Rosencrantz twins and got away with it!

Jane jumped off the bed and out the door. She ran past the Library door, through the Hall of Mismatched Art, down the treacherous stairs and made it to the receptionist's room. The whole way she listened to Demetri and Kelly arguing. They were talking about movies and that made no sense at all. What had he done?!

"This was Gianna's room. You'll stay here for now." Demetri was obviously speaking to the girl. Then he quietly said, "Jane, not now. It will be more satisfying if she is rested when you break her."

"Thanks. I guess it would be better if I just stayed here right?" This had to be Kelly. She sounded so young, how could she be a problem? _No! She killed your brother! She gets no sympathy!_

"Yes, we wouldn't want you running into Jane by yourself. That would not do well in keeping you alive and hale." WHAT?! He had just told her to wait so she'd be stronger and more satisfyingly breakable!

"Good night Deme." Deme?! Weird.

Demetri walked out of the room and placed a finger to his lips with one had and pushed Jane in front of him with the other. Every time she would start to talk he would shush her. Finally they were at the high guard's chamber. He bent down, looking into her eyes.

"Jane, I am playing her. She thinks that I'm keeping her safe. I'm just letting her think that so that she will let her guard down. Don't worry. I'm on your side of this," he said sincerely.

"Why can't I take her out now? I've waited a year!" Jane exclaimed throwing her arms in the air.

"Because if you wait over night, her body will heal and she will think that she will be able to fight you. Victory _will_ be sweeter if she is at her full potential. I promise." He didn't raise his voice in response. He never did. Well, he did once, but that was when _Alec_ blinded him.

"Fine. But if you ask more than this of me, I will not honor that." She turned to her room and slammed the door shut.

Revenge was almost fulfilled. She could smell the girl, yet she was honoring her _friend's_ request. Whom Demetri was playing she was not sure. It would be sweeter if the girl started out strong. Well, at sunrise the next day she would go. That would give her plenty of time to rest.

Jane almost giggled with excitement.

* * *

In the "human wing", Even was sitting in some _shark's_ pants in the _shark _hall in the _shark_ castle in the _shark _city! As if you couldn't tell, she was getting rather frustrated with this. Memories were attacking her from everything she touched, pushing her to a breaking point. She limped away from the bed, avoiding the human receptionist's memories. She was emotional enough without any additional.

"EEEE!" She released her stress vocally.

Breathing in deeply, she placed her broken foot on the ground and collapsed from the pain. Her forearms hit the ground and she couldn't move. Suddenly, it seemed as if a thousand feet were trampling her. Running this way and that, thousands of years worth of memories hit her at once. Every vampire, every human, every insect for close to three thousand years tried to step on her at once. She wouldn't need to wait for Jane to kill her, the feet would first.

Distantly she heard herself scream, not like she had at the Cullen's, but one short burst like a trumpet from her soul. Then she was crying. The pain was so great that it ripped her wall apart. For the first time in a year she was crying. Part of her brain was ecstatic, the other part didn't care. She was crying from physical pain. She was crying from spiritual pain. She was crying from emotional pain.

One year's worth of tears, plus the extra tears that come from lost of beloved ones, poured from her body. She tried to muffle the sound, but it did no good. Sobs racked her body, intensifying the existing pain.

She saw dawn come, but that made no difference.

Jane entered her room right as the sun rose. The girl she had vowed to kill was lying prostrate on the floor sobbing her heart out. Jane smiled. She focused all her hatred on the girl, but saw no difference. She concentrated harder. No change. It was as if the girl had that scum _Bella's_ talent.

"Get up!" she ordered. Even paid no heed. "I said GET UP!" Jane couldn't fathom why the girl was ignoring her.

Even sobbed on, and an hour more passed before they slowed. She sat up, taking care with her foot.

"So you're the infamous _Jane-shark_. I've heard tales of you." Even's voice sounded raw.

"Shark? Yes, I am Jane Rosencrantz, utmost in the Volturi guard." Jane smirked thinking that now she could harm the girl. Nothing happened. Jane could tell that she wasn't being blocked, but her power wasn't working anymore. "What manner of gift have you that mine will not touch you?"

"Gift? I have not a gift that would hamper yours, witch-pain." Even slowly raised herself to her good foot, then sat on the bed. "I suppose you are going to kill me now?"

Jane faced the girl who had the gall to sit next to her. The young girl had electric blue eyes, and matching blue circles underneath them. Her cheeks were stained with red. And she looked slightly different from the picture Alec had sent her just before he was not. "No, you are going to tell me what happened one year ago when my brother died."

"No! No! I won't!" Even scrambled back from the vampire. "I cannot relive that night!"

"You will or stay in this very room until you die!" Jane said intensely without raising her voice above a whisper.

"Then I will die."

Jane stopped breathing. She had to know what happened! A different strategy struck her. "If you lived a year not knowing what happened to the last member of your family, would you not want to know? I need to know what happened to Alec. He was the only true family I had left."

"Yes I would want to know. But you do not know what it is that you ask of me! This feat is too great!" Even shuddered. _I cannot relive that night. I have not the strength for it._

Jane was desperate. "Please."

"No."

"Please tell me what happened to my brother, my twin, my only solace in this world!" Jane was no longer in full control of her emotions. They were taking over her.

"I don't think I can!" Even was mentally fighting herself. '_I can't relive that night!' 'Yes I can! I must! I will never heal if I don't' 'I don't want to heal! I want to hurt if that means keeping him!' 'If Jack or Jason died I would want to know how! Give Jane this little piece. It will help me more than it will help her!'_

"I will wait until you think you can. I will wait to hear the whole of the matter before I act. I will be silent now." Jane crossed her legs and prepared herself to wait.

Even's eyes widened. She had to tell now. She wanted to tell. It was almost like the story itself was trying to pour from her mind.

Screwing her eyes closed, she saw that night almost one year ago, exactly. She saw Raya, in her blond-haired glory. Raya was the epitome of beach-beauty. She had dark skin that made her sun-bleached hair glow. Even saw her, well, sister pull her forward laughing at Even's expression.

"It was a beautiful evening. Raya," her voice caught. "And I had just made it to the Gulf of Mexico as the sun set. There was a virus running through the city, so we were slotted to run boarder patrol. When we got into the barracks to meet up with the rest of our team, Bean had caught it too. There was no replacement, so we razzed him about it. He couldn't move without throwing up. And right before we left Bean said 'Bro! You gunna ask her or not?' Connor" she gasped, "and I had been dating for five years. He, ssff, got down, well, not on one knee, because we don't have knees, and proposed. I said yes of course. Then Bean had to ruin the moment and ralph. Then their mom came in and shooed us out. By the time we got to the boarder Connor was wishing he was sick.

"'How can two girls talk so much about one dress? It's not like its gold-inlay or anything. Is it?' Connor looked so frustrated; he always looked adorable when he was frustrated. We spread out along the boarder like we were supposed to, but Raya and I continued our discussion. Then Connor said that he felt a presence coming. He had a telepathic gift. He couldn't read other's minds unless he was with a yard of the person, but he could tell when a humanoid mind came within a mile.

"We each assumed the 'ready' position: triton points facing the shoulder opposite the dominant hand. I was scanning through the minds of the fauna trying to see what was coming our way when I couldn't anymore.

"That was the most helpless I'd ever felt. I couldn't hear, see, taste, smell or feel. It was like my brain had been shut off. I couldn't move. This seemed to last for an eternity. Then I felt as if my heart was being ripped out of my chest with a white-hot post-hole digger.

"I blinked and could see. Raya was floating away, though it didn't look just right. Then it hit me. Her hip that is. I balked. Then I felt the pain again and turned. The light brown-hair _shark _was attacking Connor."

Even paused. She was shuddering; the worst part was coming up. She could see Jane's twin attacking. His face lowering to Connor's neck.

Taking a deep breath Even started again. "The shark was lowering his mouth to my fiancé's neck. I had dropped my triton, so I had to dive for it before I could attack. I knocked him off before I thought Connor could be bitten. He-"

"Alec." Jane interrupted to say.

Even nodded. "Alec turned to attack me. I could tell he was trying to shut me down again, but he couldn't. I waited until he was almost on me before attacking. I parried his arms, throwing him twenty or so feet away. He rushed back faster than I anticipated. He ripped the triton out of my hands and I kicked at him with my fin. He spun 'midair'. While he tried to right himself I dove after him. He wasn't able to hold my triton long. He threw it away from him and lunged at me before I could reach it. His hands were coming straight for my face. I grabbed one and twisted it behind his back. I, of course, had the advantage. Unfortunately _sharks_ don't tire. _Alec_ pulled out of my grasp and chopped my liver. His hit sent me spinning. I rotated twice then stopped myself. He was heading back toward Connor.

"I knew I wouldn't be able to stop him if I didn't get my triton back. God must have moved the triton. It had been point down in the sand, but suddenly it was right there. I grabbed it up and tore after Alec. I caught up to him in time to spear his leg and pull him away from my Connor.

"Alec roared and said, 'It's too late. I already killed him and you will die too, Halfling.'

"I twisted the triton and his leg came off. I replied, 'The only one who will die will be you, blood-stealing SHARK!'

"He had a harder time attacking me with only one leg. I realized I couldn't stab at him without whacking myself in the face, so I back-flipped out of the way. He managed to grab the edge of my fin as I flipped. The minutest part of it tore off, but it was so painful. I drove the triton right into his chest, twisted slightly and triggered the flame."

Seeing Jane for the first time since the beginning of the tale, Even realized that she should explain a little. "I am mer, and we have long ago developed the technology to produce fire hot enough to burn a vampire, or _shark_ underwater." Jane nodded.

"I rushed to Connor's side. He was bleeding from the neck. Alec had bitten him. I held him close. He wrapped his arms around my waist. I had fought Alec for only three minutes. That meant that I had twenty-seven minutes with the man I loved.

"'Babe, you have to end it. Please, baby, it hurts.' Connor said. I didn't say anything. I couldn't. In twenty-seven minutes he would be a monster worse than the Immortal Children. 'Even. I don't want to be a monster. Please stop it before I am. I refuse to be the first Neptus to be a _shark._'

"I couldn't argue with that. But I couldn't make myself act. I just held him. Five minutes past before I realized I was saying 'I love you' over and over again. When he asked a third time, I said 'I can't! I can't kill you!'

"'You have to. There isn't time to get someone else. Augnhhhh. I can't take much more.'

"'I can't!' I held him closer. He tried to talk again, but I stopped him with a kiss. We were both crying. I held him like that for twenty-six minutes. The whole time he was prep-talking me. I knew what I had to do, and he let me know that he was okay with it. In the last second, with Connor moaning from pain, I drove my triton into his chest and killed him. Hhnck, h-hi-his eyes right before they dimmed were s-s-so peaceful. He—" Even's throat closed around a sob. "He was with God. He was okay. I wasn't. I grabbed my triton, shrunk it and ran. I was home within an hour and a half. The usually took two and a half hours. And then I stopped." Even zoned out, tears silently pouring out of her eyes.

Jane was in shock. She had never heard told of her brother being so cruel. And where was his back-up? Why was he alone? Why would he take a picture before hand? What provoked him to do this act? She turned to Even.

"If you saw a picture of Alec would you be able to tell me with complete certainty that he was the same vampire you killed?" She was grasping at straws. If there was another vampire with his talent, Aro would already have him. "Please?"

"Wha? Oh, yes. I would," Even tuned in, and coughed. "Do you have any water? I feel like I haven't had anything to drink in a year…"

Jane stood up and grabbed the young girl's hand. Together they made their way to the never-before-used, state-of-the art kitchen.

AN: I wasn't going to end there, but it felt right. I think there will only be a chapter or two left! Oh tis so sad. Don't worry, I'll start a sequel in this particular part of Even's life.

themonk


	11. Finally Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. I do not own the Little Mermaid. I do own Kelsie/Tobi, no matter what IPFQ says, she is mine! Haha I own something!

Recap: Even and Embry had a row about Even slipping into a bookstore by herself. Even left to keep from killing him or any innocent passerby. Demetri kidnapped her. Kelsie freaked when she found out and attacked Brady with fruit before he calmed her down. Now we can continue.

Finally Chapter Eleven

Embry was depressed. He had passed angry about two hours ago and now it was one in the morning. No one dared ventured into the kitchen after Kelsie's little, um, reaction. However, he was a werewolf and he was hungry; so what if the little five-foot-four girl had impossible aim.

As he walked into the room, he was shocked by the amount of fruit scattered around. There was no sign of the two, yet.

Squish!

_Wha?! Ewwww. Squished tomato…and egg. _Right on top did he step. Right foot in egg, left foot in tomato. He rubbed the goo off on the corner of the wall. Esme was going to have a job of cleaning it all up anyway. _Edward, please don't let her know I spread it!_ Now he just felt stupid.

Leaning against the refrigerator was Kelsie and Brady. Brady's head was falling off of her shoulder and into her lap. Yep. He was out of it. Kelsie was staring off to space. She put her hand on Brady's head and was, well, petting it. Then she focused on Embry.

_Uh-oh…_

"Embry?" she whispered.

"Yes?" he hesitantly replied.

She tried her irresistible puppy-dog face. "Can you help me up? Without waking Brady?"

Instead of replying, Embry just shifted the younger boy around and held out his hand to Kelsie. She took his hand and when she was up, pulled him behind her. She led him outside and a little away from the house. Then she stopped. Embry could tell that she was tense. Years of working out the knots on his mom's shoulders gave him a keen eye. Plus the whole enhanced vision deal that comes with not being full human. She turned.

"You fool!" she raged. No wonder she led him outside.

"You fool," he replied just to see what was going on.

"If you hadn't been such a foolish idiot Kelly, I mean Even, would be upstairs in her bed right now! Not off who knows where!" She had a finger pointing at him. In fact it was an inch away from stabbing him.

"What do you mean been such a foolish idiot? I didn't do anything!" He tried to keep from raising his voice, but she was saying what he had been thinking; that it was his fault.

"If you didn't 'lay down the law' about her not telling you she was going into a bookstore she wouldn't have gotten mad and left! Be Reasonable! She is addicted to books! Could you go by a car parts store and not go in? When you read as much as we do you can't help yourself! She couldn't not go in there!" She probably woke the astronauts in the space station she was so loud.

During the time that she was ranting, she had been pacing around wildly pointing at random objects. The night echoed with her exclamations.

"I did not say I was laying down the law!" His voice raised ever so slightly.

"That was something my dad used to say, but THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT!" She marched up to Embry until she was almost standing on his feet. She then motioned his head down. He was too scared not too. This girl had Alice tendencies.

"She is a grown woman," her voice lowered to a more moderate level (but it was still too loud in the night). "If she wanted to go into a bookstore, she could. You are NOT the boss, you do NOT make the rules. Whatever made you think that is utterly absurd. Now," She took a calming breath. "If my cousin doesn't come back, I'm blaming you."

Embry's heart clenched. He hadn't thought of Even not coming back. He couldn't let himself. The back of his throat tightened like he was about to cry. Kelsie noticed.

"Embry?" Her whole demeanor changed. Now that she had her say, she was willing to admit this was hard for him too.

"She has to come back. If she doesn't, then I won't be around for you to blame." His eyes began to glisten.

"What happened Embry, what happened to make you this radical over her?"

"I imprinted on her two years ago, when I was watching out for Jake at the wedding. I can't take anymore of not having her around," Embry's voice was just above a whisper. He sunk to the ground. And was tackled by Kelsie.

"I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have yelled like that! Of course she'll come back! I'll kil-"she cut herself off at his look. "If she has anything to say about it, she'll be back."

Embry was taken aback by her sudden change of mind. Yeah, he was sad, almost hurting, but she was so mad at him just two minutes ago. Then again she was a teenage girl.

"I'm sure you're right. I hope you are. I want to think that I'll know if anything happens to her. Do you think I'll know? I don't understand why Demetri" he growled out the name "would take her. It makes no sense."

Kelsie thought for a moment. "I'm sure you'll know, as strong of a connection as you have. Who knows? Maybe he likes fish? Does she know about the imprint?" Her solutions were notoriously outlandish…

"WHAT?!? Maybe he likes fish?! What kind of solution is that?! It didn't make me feel better." He sat in silence for a few minutes.

Kelsie prodded him in the rib. "Does Even know about the imprint?"

"She might suspect, but no, I haven't told her."

Embry looked up at the stars. It was quite late, and he had patrol in twenty minutes. Kelsie wrapped her arms around his waist and tucked her head into his shoulder.

"Kelsie, I have patrol in twenty. Why don't you go on to bed and tomorrow you can tell me stories about Even."

Kelsie yawned. "Oooookay. That'll work. Be safe. Make good choices. Don't get hypnotized. Which way is my room?"

Embry laughed and prodded her in the right direction. "Maybe you should stop off at the kitchen and send Brady to bed too. He will be cranky if he doesn't get his sleep."

(Sunrise, Volterra castle)

"Didyme, why did you have to die? I'm so lonely now."

Marcus was watching the sunrise. It was Didyme's favorite time of day. 'A promise of new hope.' His wife was ever the optimist, the polar opposite of him.

The room was blank, a plush chair to read in, an armoire that held his meager clothing, and one painting of his beautiful bride (who happened to look like a feminine form of her brother). The chair was angled so it faced the window.

With Chelsea gone, he could feel himself slowly losing his devotion to Aro. He wanted to leave this place that reminded him of the one solace to this eternal night.

Didyme brightened his life. She and Aro had frightened off the vampire that changed him, so many, many years ago. Aro wouldn't let Didyme around him for the longest time. Caius was already with them and a small guard formed. Every vampire fell in love with her; so of course, when Marcus saw her he fell hard.

If there was one thing he understood, it was how to woo. He was a prince in the Spanish court after all. He had taught his nephew how to win the (unbeknownst to them) already won affections of a young maiden. So, he showed disdain for Didyme. Some days he totally ignored her, others he would barely acknowledge her presence. Within a month she was stalking him.

But now he was alone. After the couple decided they had enough of living with her brother, Didyme was killed; her killer never caught. That was when the change came. He hadn't felt the strong pull to stand beside Aro and be one of the Top Three until then. It had to be Chelsea; she was the only new guard member at the time.

Pondering the young girl's allegiance, Marcus picked up the latest New York Times' best seller mystery. He didn't usually get to spend the day reading. Aro and Caius were very particular about how time was spent. Neither of them were fiction readers, poor things. The mystery was a good one. He was half way through the book and still hadn't figured out who the culprit was. The writer was very good.

Faintly he heard Jane talking to someone. They must be on one of the lower levels. He refocused on his book. If they needed something they would get him. Their talking was a faint buzz in the back of his mind. Great. Now he couldn't focus on his book at all. He shut the door to the bedroom, but that just made him strain more to hear about what they were talking.

Marcus decided to find out who this mystery person was. Surely not a new recruit, they only come when there is a 'resistance' taking place anymore. He quickly tossed his robe on and glided out of the room not making a sound. Following the faint hum of voices, he found that Jane and the unknown girl were talking in the kitchen.

"I cannot believe that I could still stand that son of a biscuit-baker! HE MADE ME KILL MY OWN PARENTS!" Jane exclaimed, forgetting that they had been trying not to alert Marcus.

Who could she be talking about? Aro didn't make her kill her and Alec's parents; they were around after the change. So what?

"Jane, why would Alec make you kill his own parents? What kind of person would want his parents dead?" Calmly the girl questioned Jane.

That is a good question. Why would someone want their parents dead? Unless of course, they were royalty and were anxious to claim the throne.

"Because he was a psychotic sociopath! He was always the least favorite twin! UGH! I can't believe I'd forgotten this! For my eighth birthday, Mum and Daddy gave me a puppy. Three weeks later I found the puppy, and he had been eviscerated! My poor little puppy was tortured because he was mine! Alec was cruel; he would make you think that he was being nice, but would cut your back when he gave you a hug." Jane sounded like she was trying not to break something.

Marcus never knew there was such hatred between the twins. How odd. They always seemed so adoring. And Jane was quite animate about avenging her brother's killer.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing that he was with the Volturi. If he had been changed and left to his own devises, he would have killed thousands and would have been killed either by my kind, or his own kind. If he hadn't injured Connor, I wouldn't have been able to end his madness." Her voice was shaking towards the end.

Marcus had heard enough. There was a person who had killed a member of the Volturi, and it was his duty to end her. He was at the tower room in an instant. He would wait until ten to call them up. Then he would revenge the fallen.

**Sorry it's short, but this is where this chapter should end. And trust me, I've been working on it for a while now. Hopefully this story will wrap up during the summer (when I don't have to worry about classes just work). Please let me know what you think.**

**themonk**


	12. Listen to Your Heart

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, the vamps, the pack, or summit media. I do however own all the new characters. Nor do I own any song lyrics. I'm just not that talented;D**

_Marcus's point of view_

It was now ten minutes until ten o'clock. He grabbed his phone and sent a message to Heidi. She would be here in short order.

Marcus sat on the middle throne in the tower. Usually Aro sat there, but what Aro didn't know won't hurt him. The room was mostly made of marble. It had been this way since before he joined the coven. There was no trace of any of the minute battles that had occurred; after any altercation the room was repaired and thoroughly cleaned.

With a slight _whoosh,_ Heidi appeared. "You texted me Master?" She struggled to hide the smirk. Aro was against using modern technology, but everyone else integrated their lives with it.

"Yes Heidi, I texted you. I would like for you to bring everyone in the castle up here please. We have some matters to discuss," Marcus stated calmly.

"We'll be back shortly." Heidi quickly exited the room.

Marcus focused on one small crack in the floor. A sole imperfection in the room of the judges. If only Didyme was here to help him. If she were here, he wouldn't feel the need for vengeance. He never liked Alec, but everyone deserved vengeance. The crack seemed to be growing the longer he stared at it.

"Just be quiet and don't speak until spoken to. We don't know what he wants, so we should play innocent." Jane said as the four people approached, three without heartbeats, one with.

Marcus averted his focus, and moved it to the door. Heidi strode back in and led Jane, Demetri and the unknown girl. The girl was wearing some of Santiago's pants and a random t-shirt. He half expected to find Aro's monkey slippers on the fake red-head's feet, however, she was barefoot. And her eyes had glazed over, almost as if she were watching a movie in her mind. How curious, she sparked a long forgotten memory. His nephew Eric, coming to him, begging to find out about winning a young maiden's heart.

Mentally shaking his head, Marcus 'welcomed' the group in. "Welcome to Volterra unannounced guest. Thank you Jane and Demetri for coming up with Heidi."

Jane and Demetri looked at each other and bowed. Jane reached out her hand and pulled the young girl down too. She didn't notice a thing though. Standing erect again, Jane queried, "You wanted us Master?"

"Yes Jane, I did. I see you have a human with you. Would you please explain what she's doing here Demetri? You were the one who had the plane this time. Correct?"

Demetri looked directly into the face of his master. "Yes sir, I had the plane out and I did bring Kel--Even here."

_Keleven…Such an odd name… _"Thank you for the information Demetri, but you did not answer my question." _The connection between Demetri and Jane has grown some. Interesting._

Demetri looked down at Jane. She looked into his eyes and, dare I say it, half-winked. "Master Marcus, I am more equipped to answer that question than Demetri. For you see he brought her here at my request. I hunted her down this past year since" she stumbled over his name, "since Alec's death. I did this because she killed him." Jane stood ever so slightly in front of the young heroin.

"You will be please with my decision then. Keleven Pseudored, for the murder of Alec Volturi you have been sentenced to death."

_(back at the ranch)_

Leah was patrolling with Embry. Once he and Quil joined Jake's pack, it had been that way. She was the only one who could deal with his constant worry over the girl he had never actually met. Part of her missed the days when it was just three of them. Yeah, it was a pain having to deal with her brother, but it was quieter!

"_For someone who loves the quiet, you are being loud Lee."_ Embry said sparing no feelings.

Leah chuckled and ran a little harder so that she would cross his path more quickly. When she could see him face to face, she swiped a leg out to trip him up. "_Just because I like quiet, doesn't mean I don't like to be pensive idiot. Be lucky its me you're running with, I let you wallow."_ She shook her head. "_Love sick puppy."_

Embry jumped back to his feet quickly. "_I have been phasing longer than you so keep the puppy comments to yourself!"_

"_Touchy, touchy, touchy! I think it's someone's sleepy-time. Hehe, you keep out of my head, I'll keep out of yours. Deal?"_ Leah picked just a little, but as her dad always told her, "You pick on the ones you love."

"_Awwww. Leah loves me! Was that sarcastic enough or do I need to try again?" _Embry teased, noticing Even's scent as he crossed her path yet again.

"_That was fine young grasshopper. She'll be fine. She's one tough cookie with a long history of break…never mind. Those lyrics don't fit quite as well as I thought."_ Leah did feel bad for the boy. She had spent more time with Even than he had. And he had imprinted on the mer. "_If anyone could survive being kidnapped by a vampire, it's Even. If she can fight me, she can fight a vampire."_ Who ever said she wasn't kind at heart? Here she was trying to help the poor puppy.

"_I'm not a poor puppy Leah. And she was in better shape when she fought you. And she had that stake-thing-a-ma-bob-er-doodle, and it is up in her room right now." _Embry had spent waaaay too much time in Even's room after she left.

"_Stake-thing-a-ma-bob-er-doodle? You are hopeless my puppy-thing-a-ma-bob-er-doodle friend."_

Embry growled but stayed silent. They ran for a few minutes more, each minding their own business. Leah wasn't really worried about her friend. Really, she wasn't. Okay so maybe she was a little worried. After seeing this Demetri fellow a few years ago, she knew he would be hard for someone to fight off.

Suddenly, one of the Cullen's scents caught her nose. It smelt like Jasper and Alice, but only faintly of Alice. She let out a _woof_ and turned to see where he was going.

"Embry! I thought you were running tonight. Oh hey Leah. Calm down, I'll need your help when EMBRY gets here," Jasper said shouting out Embry's name every time he said it.

Leah shot him a look that said, "Calm? You want _me_ calm?"

Quickly Jasper spread calm through her. It was, after all, his specialty.

Embry came rushing into view and stopped right in front of Jasper. He raised and eyebrow and thought, "_You rang?"_

Jasper calmed him down just slightly, knowing he was about to deliver hard news. "Alice had a vision about Even. They have come to a decision. They are going to kill her."

Embry started shaking. He made to lunge at Jasper, but Leah dodged in front of him. "_You idiot! Don't hurt him! He is a friend and we don't hurt our friends. He is just the messenger. Go talk to Alice and find out what is happening. Idiot!" _During her mantra, Leah was pushing him back toward the house. He was in the same state Jake was at the wedding, too mad to do anything really.

Embry let himself be pushed away. He knew that he shouldn't kill the messenger, but right now he wanted to hurt something. "_Sorry Jazz,"_ he thought knowing that the vampire couldn't hear him. He could feel the change in emotions.

"If you apologized, Embry, think nothing of it. If our roles were reversed, I probably wouldn't have let Leah stop me from hurting you. Alice did say that she wanted you back at the house." Jasper led the way to the house. Leah would have followed, but someone needed to watch the boarder.

She felt so sorry for Embry. And for Kelsie. She didn't know how she would react if someone told her Sam was going to be killed. As she ran back to the boarder line, she remembered something Even told her once. "Don't worry about the fact that you love him. He is your first true love. He is the one who taught you how to love. You will always love him, even when he is married, old and gray." How the younger girl got so wise, she would never know. But it was true two years later. She still loved Sam, not as fervently as she did before though.

Leah heard Jake join the party. _"Leah, go inside, I've got Collin coming to do boarder patrol. If it comes to a vote, we need all our members present and accounted for."_

"_Yes, almighty Alpha."_

"_Leah."_

"_You would miss it if I didn't pick on you a little bit."_

He phased back and Leah soon joined him. The boys had it easy. They just had to carry shorts around then grab shirts as they entered the house. She had to carry a sundress with her.

As she entered the house she could feel the tension. Jasper must be overloaded trying to keep everyone calm. Nessie was huddled in Bella's lap holding on to Jake's and Edward's hands. Brady had Kelsie propped up at his side, rubbing her arm. Esme was standing by the door with a phone pressed to her ear. Quil was standing behind Embry, who was slumped on the couch with his head in his hands. Jasper and Emmett were sitting on both sides of him. Seth was sitting on the floor, but joined Leah by the door. Rosalie was propping Alice up as another vision gripped her.

"Nooooo," Alice moaned.

"What's happening?" Leah questioned loudly.

Edward turned to her. "She is seeing how they are killing Even. It is not a pretty thing. There are only four of the Volturi there, but Even isn't fighting back."

"Would you please keep that to yourself! Some of us would do better not to know the intimate details!" Embry raged.

Kelsie jumped up and smacked him. "Do you think you are the only one who cares about her? WE ALL DO! So get over yourself!" Her voiced reached such a high range that it made everyone in the room flinch.

"GET OVER MYSELF? YOU WANT ME TO GET OVER MYSELF?" Embry roared, but Brady jumped up before he could say anything else.

"You raise your voice at her again and you won't have a voice to raise, understand? Now sit down and let's figure this out." Brady was surprisingly calm, but did push his friend back to a sitting position.

_(Back at the other ranch){__**AN: I've been reading Lemony Snicket, so please pardon)**_

Marcus paused while he waited for a response. Keleven was unresponsive. Demetri and Jane looked shocked. How could they not see this coming? Heidi looked impassive, per her usual when it came to these matters.

"I said, Keleven Pseudored, for the murder of Alec Volturi you have been sentenced to death. Do you have no response?" Maybe she was hard of hearing.

"Master, I have promised to protect the girl. And her name is Even, not Keleven. Her parents named her Kelly, but she chose the name Even," Demetri replied.

Jane swiveled her head around to glare at Demetri. "You promised to protect her? You told me you were just gearing her up for a fall. Liar." Jane turned away and _Hur-umph-_ed.

"I was trying to please you. She just reminds me of my little sister." Demetri tried to defend himself.

All this time, Marcus was growing more and more impatient. "I fail to see how this has any relevance. Now both of you shut up and let the girl talk. _Even_ do you have anything you wish to say to the sentencing?"

Even was just standing there, in between Demetri and Jane (Heidi had moved to the side). She had a pained expression on her face and she was staring intently at her bare feet. As a tear slowly rolled from her eye, her mouth started moving slowly but Marcus couldn't make out what she was saying.

"Speak up girl. I can't read your lips like that." Marcus was not in a good mood. The girl was so familiar, and reminded him of his young nephew. The girl looked up and now her expression was the epitome of empathy.

"There's a saying old, says that love is blind. Still we're often told 'seek and ye shall find'. So I'm going to seek that certain lad I've had in mind." For the first time in a year, Even was singing. It wasn't her best, but she was doing it.

Marcus gasped. He hadn't heard that song in years. It was one Didyme wrote before she decided that he was worth her time. How did Even know about this song?

"Looking everywhere, haven't found him yet. He's the big affair I cannot forget. Only man I ever think of with regret." More tears were coming down her face now.

"Where did you learn that song." Marcus meant to question but it came out as a statement.

Even stopped singing. "She loved you. Even before she knew it, she loved you. I remember hearing stories about you from my great-grandmother's lap. She always told how you set her up with Great-Grandfather."

The three members of the guard looked at Even with confusion. Marcus was confused too. How could she possibly think that statement made any sense?

"I asked you a question," Marcus replied.

"No you didn't. You made a statement; questions have an up tilt at the end of the sentence. I know the song because it is one of my brother's favorites. I sung the song just now, because it was so powerful. Of all the things that this room has seen, Aro's sister singing that song is the most moving, most enveloping, most touching, and the most domineering memory. My voice pales in comparison with hers however, sorry." Even's voice was full sarcasm at the beginning, but grew honest as she answered his statement.

"How do you know that Didyme wrote that? How do you know how her voice sounded? How?" Marcus's voice was pained, he hadn't actually spoken about her to anyone in a few hundred years.

"I can see it. Yes, you have redecorated some things, but the memories still lie deep. I'm rather tactile that way. I can see things that the objects I touch saw, feel the emotions that were coursing through the room, the pain. So much bad has been done here, such terror, such pain, such betrayal, but no emotion has been as strong as the one of Didyme singing that song for you." Even paused to stare around the room. "'Above all, the law.' Too bad the judges are flawed like every other living creature on this planet. I know why you want to kill me. A few months ago I would have welcomed it. But, Uncle, You would be wrong to kill me. It would break the law—"

Marcus interrupted her. "Uncle? Wrong to kill you? You are a human who knows too much, you killed a member of the guard, you broke the law!"

"You are the uncle to my great-grandfather if the stories are to be believed, I just didn't want to say that many great's. And you contradicted yourself. If I were a human, how did I kill a member of your guard? How did I break the law?" Even spoke clearly and firmly. She was returning to her training. 'Be confidant, even when you don't think you are right. If they don't know for sure, they will believe you.'

"How can you not be human? You have a heart beat; you do not smell like a dog, you aren't a half-breed. What else could you be? And you broke the law by knowing about vampires! I still don't see how I'm your uncle, no matter how many greats." Marcus was growing angrier and angrier by the minute. This young girl was not treating him with the respect that he had known for years.

"I'll cover the relation at a later venture; let us keep me alive first. I have known about vampires since I was ten. And I can't expose you either. If I did, it would mean exposing my kind too." Even retorted calmly.

"And what exactly is your kind?" Marcus hissed the words out.

Heidi, Demetri and Jane were all in shock. The only time they had seen this type of debate with one of the Master's was when Edward Cullen was trying to convince them to kill him. And maybe when Carlisle tried to convince them to not eat humans anymore.

"My kind is the Mer. We are the record keepers. We are the protectors of the seas. We kill anything that destroys our home. We keep you _sharks_ from taking over our lands. I am an Ambassador. I am trained in the ways of fighting, debate, and seduction. I could convince you to let me go without a fight and you would realize I was gone too late to stop me. I could make you and Demetri kill Heidi and Jane then each other. But I won't, because you are family—"

"You keep saying that! I don't care what you can do! You have murdered one of my guards. I will avenge his death, even if his sister doesn't want to. I cannot stand for someone's death to go un-avenged—" Marcus roared until Jane cut him off.

"But what about self-defense? What if she killed him in self-defense? I heard the story, I saw her face as she told it. She was not lying. He attacked them! He killed her sister and fiancé! Marcus, he killed her 'Didyme!' Do you think she didn't have the right to avenge their deaths? Does she not get that right?" Jane half screamed. For the first time in her life she was standing up for something she believed in. She wasn't following what was expected of her, she was being her own person.

"IF she was telling the truth, then yes she would not be in the wrong, and Alec would not have to be avenged." Marcus knew that _if_ it was self-defense, he had no legitimate claim to Even's life.

A hush grew in the room. Tensions were high. Then Heidi cleared her throat unnecessarily.

"Master, have you changed your decision?" she queried.

Jane and Demetri both looked hopeful. Things had definitely changed between them. When they first walked into the room, there was a slight tie between them; now it was a strong cord. Something about this girl united them in a way that hundreds of years had not.

"Master, if you see that she has not offended the law, there is no reason to kill her. Right?" Heidi questioned.

"Wrong. I think that she still knows too much and is a liability. How do we know that when she leaves she won't expose us for what we really are?" Marcus argued. He knew that if Aro and Caius were there, they would not let the girl leave.

"I already told you that exposing you would expose me as well. Or do you think I will take the information I have to the other vampires and ruin your reputation?" Even retorted. She had an ever so slight tie to Jane and Demetri, but it was not originating from her.

"Oh, so is that what you are planning then?"

"No. We actually like the fact that y'all are keeping tabs on the crazies out there. It makes our job easier. We don't have to watch more than our areas of expertise, the seas." Even replied. "It would make no sense for us to add more onto our already full plates."

"Y'all? What is this word? I do not know it." He was seriously confused.

"What is it with you people? Do you not know how to speak? Y'all is a contraction of you and all. It's a southernism…" Even deadpanned.

Marcus grew silent again. She says that she wouldn't expose them for her own protection. The only time the law of exposure was 'ignored' was with young Bella and Aro saw Alice's vision of a vampire Bella. No, he would still have to kill the girl.

"My decision still stands. The law is the law and we shall hold it to the letter." Marcus stood to approach Even.

"Now hang on just a red minute! The law states that no human shall no about the existence of vampires and live. I am not human. Think about what Didyme would say." Even burst losing her calm for the first time.

"You don't know her! You didn't know her! I know what she would say! She would agree with whatever Aro said!—"

"No she would not. I could tell you of at least fifty times when she did not agree with him, proved her point of view, and changed his decision. Now be honest. Listen to your heart, what does it say?" Even interrupted and pleaded.

"What if instead of killing you, we changed you? You seem to know a lot of things you would have no way of knowing. You would be a great asset to the Volturi." This would also be acceptable to Aro.

Jane looked shocked. "NO! Master we can't! From what she described, mer-blood mixed with vampire venom causes a reaction that is so violent it makes vampire children look as innocent as inch worms. She would not be an asset, she would be a bane!"

"Jane! I will not tolerate such speech coming from you! You will never reply to me or any of the Masters with such vehemence again! Do you understand me?" Marcus roared.

Hearing such _vehemence_ being aimed at his love, Demetri's temper broke. "It does not matter if she understands you or not! She is a free person. If she feels the need to explain a serious issue, she has that right! You will _NOT_ speak to _her_ that way again."

Jane was shocked. She hadn't been so ardently defended since she was a child. "Demetri, you defended me?" She obviously did not intend for it to come out as a question.

"Yes, why not? Everyone needs a knight in a flowing black cloak every once and a while.'

Marcus had moved so he was now in Even's personal space. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the others. "My decision will stand then."

Even began to look panicked. But instead of speaking, she tried to twist out of Marcus's grasp. She almost got her wrist out, but he was _just_ too strong. She turned to face him, hissing under her breath. In an instant he knew what was happening. Ariel had tried it with him once, upon his request. She was trying to access his mind just like she said.

The next instant, Demetri was behind him and grabbing his elbows. The sudden movement forced him to relinquish the girl.

With his mouth next to Marcus's ear, Demetri whispered in a deadly tone, "If you try something like that again, I will not hesitate to maim or kill you. You have seen me single-handedly take out full grown vampires, do not doubt me."

Marcus gulped. "I will not except such insubordination! Now let go of me!"

Jane pulled Even behind her and glared at Heidi, daring her to make a move. Demetri did not let go of the elder vampire.

"I will not let you go until you promise that Even and I may leave safely--"

Jane interrupted, "And me too."

"And Jane too. We are no longer members of the Volturi. We have the upper hand. If I were you, I would find out how you were going to break it to Aro." Demetri sounded relieved, yet deadly at the same time.

"Fine. I was about to change my mind anyway. The girl is family, I remember when her grandmother pulled the same mind control trick she tried to pull back there. Eric would be so disappointed if I killed his granddaughter." The old man sounded as old as he was for once. And extremely saddened.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that Didyme was killed, I'm sorry that you were turned and didn't get to meet your grandchildren. I'm sorry that you are forced to live here miserably. But, there is something you should know…" Even's voice trailed off.

Marcus looked at his niece. _She really does look like Ariel, and sounds like her too._ "Yes?"

"Didyme would want you to remain here. She would want you to be the heart of Volterra. She would want you to be the conscience she was. You are the only one who can talk some sense into that crazy brother of mine. Hers… Sorry, I get too into what I'm seeing sometimes…"

Heidi let out a sigh. Then she walked over to Jane and took her hand. "Well, Jane, if you're leaving me, I guess we best get you packed and ready to go. Plus I have some dating advice." She then winked at her.

"Well, leave quickly. I don't want to worry any family. I think I'll go read some of Didyme's old diaries. Help me remember just how she thought. Good day…" Marcus was astounded. Two hours ago, he never thought he would let the girl go. But she did remind him of Didyme's mission: to bring peace to those around her. Unless of course she was in a bad mood…then it was her sole mission in life to annoy her brother until he was ready to shoot himself. A smile crossed his face. Maybe Even's reminder was just what he needed… No more moping. Marcus de Castillo was back!

_**AN: I hope that went okay…I rewrote the last two pages like four times…next chap? Trouble in Ireland and a little teen lovin'! let me know what you think!**_

_**the monk!**_


	13. Hold My Heart chap125

**Disclaimer: I'm not Mrs. Meyer, nor do I really claim to be. However, if my writing is half as good as hers I'm well please and excited!**

**AN: Glad you liked the last chapter! It was a booger. No I won't be rewriting it in Even's pov, though I will have her thinking over some parts of what she saw. And forgive me for it being short. This came to me when I was driving home. It's based off of a Tenth Avenue North song by the same title.**

Hold My Heart

_Huh. Jonas was right. Sometimes relying solely on your instincts does work. I tried to take hold of his mind, he doesn't let me, and I'm still free to go._ Even thought as she followed Demetri out of the tower room. He was saying something about crab in the dough, but she wasn't paying attention.

"You can put crab in dough, but I don't think it's very good without cream cheese and sweet and sour sauce. I'm going to go on the wall and think. I noticed the clouds looked wonderful out there."

"Even, I didn't say anything about crab dough. I said grab your clothes. Go ahead. I'll come get when it's time to leave." Demetri chuckled and pointed her to the best wall exit.

Even had a lot to think about. It wasn't everyday that you convince someone not to kill you without proving that you could take them down in a fight. She found a shady place on the wall where she could see the vast expanse of clouds. Every kind was out today. Bright white against a pale blue sky.

Settling in with her knees pulled up to her chest, she began to hum. It amazed her how good it felt. Music was apart of who she was. If there was anything other than blood in her veins it would be music and salt water.

"How long must I pray, must I pray to You? God, I feel like I have been praying forever. After those first few weeks, I couldn't find enough time to pray. How long must I wait, must I wait for You? I've been waiting just as long. I guess you've been waiting too. I don't know how to heal. You must have left me here for a purpose. I don't know though. How long 'til I see Your face, see You shining through? I don't want to wait anymore! I'm on my knees, begging You to notice me. I'm on my knees, Father will You notice me?" Even was alternating between singing and saying what was on her mind. The melody was just there. Almost as if it had been in the wind coming towards her.

A thunder cloud had been building behind her, unnoticed until the rain starting pouring. "GOD! I am not leaving this position until I feel you with me!" Tears started streaming down her face. "One tear in the dropping rain, one voice in the sea of pain could the Maker of the stars, hear the sound of my breaking heart? Abba, I'm not breaking, I'm already broken. I feel like there are pieces of my heart that will never come back! One light, that's all I am right now I can barely stand. I'm not even trying to stand! I knew I wouldn't be able to. If You're everything You say You are, won't You come close and hold my heart? I can't do it anymore God. You are the Almighty, you should be able to take my questions. If you are the God who Hears, will you please hear my cry for help? I want to be whole again! Please!"

Even leaned back against the wall as the rain slowed to a soft comforting pace. The sun peeked out from behind the quick moving clouds, angling just exactly right for her to see a full rainbow. Slowly she stood. A quiet peace filled her. God provided her with His sure sign of promise. You can't heal over night. She remembered what she told Leah two years ago.

"_Sometimes you need someone to teach you how to love…"_ The words sounded so sage at the time. Maybe Leah wasn't the only one.

_Okay God. You are going to help me through this now that I'm ready to listen. I don't know what it's going to take, but I'm ready for it…I hope…_

AN: that took less time than I thought… this will technically be chapter 12 ½… not thirteen. Don't hate me!


	14. Morning Has Broken

**To those of you who liked the last mini chapter, thanks! I liked it too. To those of you who didn't…I don't really care. I'm writing this for me.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer, I don't look like her, share her exact belief system, or her martial status. **

Morning Has Broken

Brady sat beside the bed of the multicolor-haired girl. If he were taller, he would sit facing the bed so he could see her face. But he wasn't so he sat with his back to the bed and hummed under his breath. Kelsie had been asleep since early that morning when she woke him up in the kitchen. He did get some sleep too, just not as much as she is.

"Morning has broooo-ken like the first moooooooorning."

_Smack!_ A hand struck the back of his head. He smirked and sang the next line.

"Black bird has spoooooo-ken like the first biiiiiird." The offended hand smacked him again.

He hopped up to a crouch while turning his body to face the bed. Kelsie had stirred and was scowling at the backs of her eyelids.

"Are you awake or do I need to continue?" he inquired.

"Ugh," she grunted but didn't move. She looked adorable, her chopped locks splayed out from her head. She swatted her left hand, but instead of hitting him, he caught her hand.

"Awh, you want to hold my hand."

Kelsie perked her head up and glared at Brady. He struggled not to laugh.

"Let go. I need to pee." He considered mutiny, but let go of her hand. She shot of bed and was in the bathroom lickity-split.

_I don't want to tell her this. Sam said I should wait until Even comes home, but I can't stand having her not know. Why does it have to be this difficult?_

Brady's mental rambles were interrupted by Kelsie walking into the room and plopping onto the bed. She pointed a finger at him, then at the spot right beside her on the bed.

"Sit. Now." _Well, I can't be arguing with that now can I?_

He sat beside her and she cleared her throat. Kelsie looked up at him and opened her mouth to speak several times, before sucking in the corners of her lips and making fishy-faces at him.

"So, Embry and I were talking last night, although I guess technically it was this morning, not that it really matters, the sun was down so I guess that counts as night, but it was after midnight so that would make it morning, and he mentioned that he imprinted on my cousin two years ago, which is totally random, because I thought that she had never been West of the Mississippi, that's a long word, then to find out that she was in Washington getting imprinted on! I was wondering exactly what imprinting is. All Bella told us in _Breaking Dawn,_ was that it was like everything holding you down to the world is cut and those strings attached themselves to the 'special' girl. You can understand how that can be confusing, I mean I thought gravity connected us to this world, but I have been wrong before." She took her first sip of air. "Would you pretty please tell me what imprinting is? I mean, you are here and everything so I might as well ask you." Kelsie spoke on one and a half breaths of air.

Brady was shocked. He knew the girl could talk fast, but he was pretty sure that some of her words were said at the same time. She had just asked him what imprinting was, him, the guy who was just worrying about how to broach the subject.

"If you don't want to I understand, but I figured you would be good to ask, because it hasn't happened to you and you've seen what the other, what, hold on, Sam, Jared, Paul, Embry, Quil, Jacob, yeah, six guys in your pre-split pack have imprinted, unless that's another thing Bella left out, like she left out my cousin, mmm-mmhm-uhnm." Kelsie rambled until Brady pinched her lips shut.

"I'll tell you, you don't have to talk in one extended-run-on sentence." He was still holding on to her lips. He paused to think. "When Sam imprinted, he was quite shocked. The legends of imprinting were always the most unbelievable. Plus he was completely in love with Leah. Jared was just happy. Really, really, really, happy. Annoyingly happy. But their stories are consistent. Nothing else matters."

Brady was slightly worried that if he kept staring in her eyes he would give himself away. Nothing else really mattered but her. He remembered Quil's imprint better because he was already in the pack.

"Quil's imprinting was quite different. Claire was two at the time. He was freaked at first. He heard Sam's and Jared's explanations, and knew what happened. He didn't want to be connected to this little girl. Then she took a step, tumbled and he had no choice but to catch her. Each of the guys agree. The world 'shakes and everything changes'. They can be away from her, and even in sleep they _need_ to know where she is."

Brady looked deep into Kelsie's eyes. He felt that he couldn't keep it from her any longer. Hopefully, she would pick up on his subtleties. "When she gets angry, they want to help her vent. When she loses her cousin, they want to hold on and let her cry. I-they want to be there for every major event in her life."

Kelsie looked back in Brady's eyes, slightly confused. She was certain that he started saying I on that last one. She cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrows. "You started to say I."

Brady wrapped his arm around her shoulders and nodded. He said nothing.

"I was wrong. You did imprint. Who did you imprint on." She was aiming to ask a question, but the anxiety in her stomach was keeping her from showing emotion. For some reason she wanted to be his imprint.

Slowly, Brady smiled. He didn't have to be Jasper to feel her anxiety. "Oh, you know, just this girl I met two days ago. She has a crazy idea of natural hair colors, an obsession with hippos, a kind heart, and an extremely ticklish body."

She screwed her face in, "You mean me right?"

Brady pulled her into his arms and laughed. "Yes, of course I mean you."

(_In Italy again_)

Even was standing out on the wall after a sudden rain shower and talk with her God. Inhaling deeply, she could faintly smell the ocean on the breeze. She could also smell old shark. It must be Marcus coming up.

"You have quite the excellent voice." Marcus walked up from the stairs, covered in a thick black cloak.

"It comes with being a Mermaid. Can I help you with something?" Even tried not to be harsh, but the vampire was determined to kill her a few hours ago.

"I come out here to think occasionally. I'm not going to hurt you. It really isn't in my spirit to hurt others. I just wanted to thank you for reminding me of that." He stood looking out to the East. "I've been so depressed for the last several hundred years that I haven't cared what was happening around me. Go with Demetri and Jane. Reconnect with your own kind. Heal."

Even walked up to her uncle, patted his back and replied. "Thank you. I know it has to be difficult to continue here. But the best way to avenge Aunt Didyme's murder is to return heart to the Volturi. It really is."

As the sun set, Marcus lowered his hood and hugged the young girl. "Go, they are getting ready to leave. I do believe I hear Heidi finishing with your laundry. Keep in touch. I'm thinking about getting a Twitter."

Scoffing, Even started walking backwards towards the stairs. "Don't get a Twitter! I refuse to be a twit, get a Facebook instead. I'll find a way to keep in touch. You aren't the only ones with an awesome network." She laughed and turned to walk down the stairs.

Every other step hurt. Even's foot still wasn't completely healed. She was such an idiot for kicking a several decades old tree. She was an idiot for running away from her problems. She was an idiot for going around barefoot! _Some things are best kept in bedrooms!_

In five minutes, she had found Heidi and was now clothed, fed and shod. Demetri cracked jokes about needing to give her muscle relaxers or pain killers to keep her calm on the plane ride. Surprisingly, Jane looked like she would cry when she told Heidi goodbye. They climbed aboard the plane, that was being piloted by a human who was paid several pretty pennies to keep quiet about what happened on plane rides such as these.

"Do I need to blindfold you and strap you down?" Demetri poked Even in the ribs.

She chuckled mirthlessly. "You do that and I will scream so loudly you will think you're human again. You poke me again, and we shall see if you can function with one less finger. Comprehende?" Even sat down on the innermost seat and buckled in. She didn't like planes, but she could remain calm. She promised herself she would remain calm. Okay, maybe she wouldn't.

_Don't be such a pansy! You are only in a man-made contraption that is going to carry you across an ocean… Okay, enough thinking. Maybe you should try to sleep._

Jane sat down in the floor beside Even. Looking up at her, Jane noted, "You look green Evy. No, that doesn't fit you. Venny? No, I'm fairly certain that was a Veggietales character." Jane received a fierce glare that mirrored the intensity of her own. "Okay, Even it is."

"I'm trying not to think about what we are doing. Is there anything to read on this sardine can?" Even clutched at the armrests as the plane took off. Jane stood as if she were on solid land, and in the blink of an eye, brought a new teen romance to her newly made, steadily growing greener friend.

Even nodded her thanks and eagerly started reading the book. Not the genre she usually liked to read, but it worked. The next two hours were relatively calm. Jane and Demetri talked quietly about their budding relationship. The pilot flew as steadily as possible. Everything was going beautifully until an announcement echoed in the cabin.

"Attention passengers. Due to some minor mechanical issues, we are going to have to land at the Kerry International Airport. Hopefully, we will only be detained a few minutes. Sorry for any inconvenience."

The cabin stayed hushed after the announcement. Then Even erupted. She unhooked her seatbelt, threw her book down (that in and of itself would have scared anyone who knew her for longer than two days) and started pacing.

"Kerry International? KERRY INTERNATIONAL? That's in Ireland though, it's near the coast! No, we can't land there." She started running toward the cabin door, but was stopped by Demetri.

"What is wrong with Ireland? It's beautiful. They have lots of pubs, and little green men." Demetri continued to resist the weaker of the two.

"They don't have little green men. Yes it is beautiful. I can't go there though." Even looked up at Demetri with pleading eyes. "Please, tell him to land somewhere else."

Jane stood, and walked around the two. She quickly walked into the pilot's cabin and walked back out.

"We can't land elsewhere. We have almost run out of fuel and Kerry is the closest airport. _Somebody_ didn't refuel the plane after he took it cross country." Jane elbowed Demetri, causing him to release Even.

Even collapsed to the floor. "Well, C-R-A-P. Would it be possible for me to stay in the plane?"

"No, we don't have any food on the plane and you will need to eat. Besides, customs are a pain to get through when you stay on the plane. What is the big deal? Do you have something against the Irish? What did they ever do to you?" Demetri tried to do an Irish brogue, but failed.

"One tried to steal my boyfriend from under me," Even muttered.

Jane and Demetri did not know how to respond to that exactly. They looked at each other trying to come up with something, but were saved by the pilot.

"Please prepare for a landing. I ask that as soon as we have landed you exit the plane as quickly as possible and stay at the airport. Thank you."

The plane landed, and Jane and Demetri forced Even off the plane. Once they were inside the airport, they found a quiet coffee shop and cornered Even.

"Other than an Irish citizen trying to steal your boyfriend, why are you so nervous?" Demetri asked.

"Well, _Brigit _finally understood that I was not giving, um. Conner up after I broke her arm, nose, two floating ribs on the left side, left collar bone and called her a tramp that shouldn't be allowed out in public. I'm pretty sure there was something else, but Raya was yelling at _Moraga_ at the same time. Raya and I were both told that if we ever swam into the British Isle's region again, we would be arrested and held for seventeen and a half days." Even told not looking up from her chai tea.

Jane was shocked. She never pictured Even as the jealous type. Of course, they didn't know each other for long, but still. "So you being on land is bad because?"

Even huffed and scanned the room. "I would have thought you smarter than that Jane. I'm Mer, we don't usually travel any other way than by sea. If any of the garda (**If this isn't actually Gaelic, please let me know)** spot me, they will automatically assume I swam here. I hope you can see my difficulty with being here."

Demetri forgot what he was doing and took a drink of the coffee he bought. He spewed the relatively hot liquid out. Luckily, it missed both Even and Jane. Unluckily, the brown liquid hit the white wall. Both girls tried. They really did. However, Even was sleep deprived enough, and Jane felt alive enough for them to both burst out laughing.

Trying to keep a straight face, Demetri reprimanded them. "You aught to be ashamed of yourselves. Laughing at me like that. Chummpt." He tried to hold his laughter in.

Jane smacked his arm with a metallic thump. "We aught to be ashamed? You are the one dirtying walls."

Even agreed. "You aught to go get napkins and clean up your mess apologizing for the mess!"

Soon, Demetri was distracted by the wall. Even looked around and saw a pay-phone. She really aught to contact the Cullens and let them know she was okay. After she felt of her pockets, she asked, "Jane, do you have any money? I need to make a phone call."

Jane pulled out her skull and crossbones leather coin pouch and handed Even what change she had. "Sorry it isn't much, but maybe it'll be enough to get an over-seas call."

Even thanked Jane and made her way to the pay-phone. She inserted the money and called the only number she could remember. It was the width of the U.S. off. But, it was her only chance.

"Clearwater residence, Karen Call speaking."

_Call? That's Embry's last name._

"Hi, I'm trying to reach someone that knows how to send a message to Leah Clearwater."_ Please, oh please!_

"I can give you her number if that would be easier."

"I have a limited amount of call time. Can you please tell her that Even is on her way home, I'm okay, and"

"Please insert another coin for extended time."

"And tell Kelsie I-L-Y-M-T-W. Kelsie will know what it means."

"I'm sorry, your call has run out of time."

Even slammed the receiver down. Hopefully the message would be passed on. She made her way back to the table, and sat down. Not two minutes later, the pilot approached them and said it was time to go.

They were almost to the plane and Even felt relieved. She was almost home.

(_in the Clearwater kitchen_)

"Who was that Karen?" Charlie Swan asked.

Karen turned away from the phone. "Someone named Even who had an urgent message for Leah. She, Even that is, is okay, on her way home, and some acronym. I-L-Y, um… M-T-Y or something like that."

Billy Black rolled into the room. He had over heard the conversation. "I think you should call her and let her know. Even is the one that Jacob said helped Leah."

Sue turned from the pot of spaghetti she was stirring. "I highly doubt there are any other Even's that Leah knows. Call her and tell her."

Charlie handed Karen his cell phone with the Cullens' house number pulled up. She pushed send and waited while it rang. In three rings the phone was answered.

"Hello? Esme Cullen speaking."

Karen was thrown. Since she and Billy had started dating, she knew about the werewolves and just talking to a vampire unnerved her. "Yes, this is Karen Call, from La Push. Is Leah where she can talk? I need to deliver a message.

**AN: Wow, I think this is the fastest I've gotten an update on this since the beginning of the story. YAY! Even is almost back! Please let me know what you think!**

**themonk**


	15. Home

**I was so going to write this chapter last week after camp was over…then I got pneumonia. Lucky me… not. So here it is now, a week late. AN2: sorry for re-posting this, a drastic mistake was brought to my attention**

**Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer, I do not claim to be her, and I am just taking her ideas as a basis for my own.**

_Home_

Quietly watching the big-screen, all the Cullen's plus the rest of the family with heart beats sat anxiously. Two days ago Even and Kelsie's, then Kelly and Tobi's, car wreck had made national news.

"In other news, officials have found no sign of foul play in the devastating wreck that has stumped experts nation-wide. Six days ago, young teen cousins Kelly Fox and Tobi Maxwell were traveling to a friend's house when the car veered off the road. The families have decided to hold a memorial service for the two girls…"

_R-r-ring. Ring-ring._

Leah watched as Esme blurred for the phone.

"Hello? Esme Cullen speaking."

_Who would be calling here?_ There was a slight pause then she faintly heard Embry's mom's voice on the other line.

"_Yes, this is Karen Call, from La Push. Is Leah where she can talk? I need to deliver a message."_

Leah jerked to her feet and was beside her "den" mother quickly.

"Here she is Karen." Esme smiled and handed her the phone.

Looking at the phone for an instant, Leah brought it to her ear and answered. "This is Leah."

"_Oh thank goodness! Leah, I'm at your mom's place and just received a call from Even—"_

"From Even? Are you sure? Where is she? Is she okay? Did she tell you what is happening?" Leah interrupted frantically.

"_Yes, I'm sure. She said that she is okay, and on her way. She didn't have much time; right before the phone disconnected she said I-L-Y-M-T-Y or something like that. I didn't have time to double check."_

"That's okay. She's heading back. That's good enough for me. We'll find out what the acronym means. Thank you so much for calling. Do you need to talk to Embry?" Leah's heart rate decreased as she processed the new information.

"_No, not right now. We are eating breakfast. I'll call him later tonight."_ They both hung up the phone and Leah turned to face the anxious crowd. A smile almost broke her face in half.

"Even is okay. She's heading this way. The only confusing part is an acronym she told Karen. I-L-Y-M-T-Y. But she wasn't entirely sure that was correct. She had only a moment to speak." Everyone sighed in relief. Embry looked like he was going to cry. Kelsie actually was crying.

Leah sat down beside her brother while Brady pulled Kelsie tightly to him. She was now either sobbing or laughing, Leah couldn't tell which. Esme walked to the girl and placed a concerned hand on her shoulder.

"Kelsie? Are you okay?"

Kelsie looked up at the deceptively young woman. "Yeah, my cousin is okay! And Leah, the acronym is wrong. It should be I-L-Y-M-T-W, not Y. We used to have I-love-you wars. We could text nothing but I love you more to each other for hours. But the last thing she would always say to me was 'I love you more than waves on the sea.'" Kelsie turned back into Brady's arms.

The room was hushed. Not one of them had heard of that saying before. Leah hadn't heard of an I-love-you war either. _I love you more than waves on the sea? That seems like a completely random comparison._

Brady pulled Kelsie's chin up. "Kelsie, you want to tell us some more about it? If you want to?" _Of course he would add that. Stupid imprinting._

Edward snorted. Leah glared at him. _That does not leave your mouth, Eavesdropper._

"It's not some big secret or anything. When I was little and would get scared at her house she would sing me this song. I think I can remember the words, but I don't like to sing for people.

I love you more than the stars in the sky,

More than the clouds,

More than the leaves that flitter on by.

I love you more than the trees that grow tall,

More than the birds,

More than the creatures that howl and call.

I love you more than the sands of the beach,

More than the fish,

More than the coral that upward reach.

I love you more than the waves on the sea,

For they don't cease,

So shall my love for you ever be."

While she was reciting the song, Edward quickly went to the door. Leah followed his movement. Surely Even wasn't home already? Kelsie finished her tale. The door opened and Edward pulled his father in for a very manly hug.

"Dad! You made it back. Are they Even's grandparents?" Edward held the door open while the three elders entered the house.

Leah stood and pulled Seth away from the couch so the two new comers would have a place to sit. They looked much older than Carlisle did. The man had stark white hair against a deeply tanned face. The woman's hair was grey down to all but the tips that were still deep brown. She too had a deep tan. The woman smiled at the siblings, and sat down primly on the couch.

"Thank you for the place to sit. I'm afraid if I tried to sit on the floor, I would be stuck forever. Gravity is much crueler out of the water." She had a sweet smile; it was similar to Even's but more relaxed somehow.

Esme was hanging onto Carlisle. He chuckled. "Esme, kids, this is my dear friend, Habakkuk Phiscese, and his wife Hannah. They are Even's paternal grandparents."

Leah watched Habakkuk sit next to his wife. They looked good together. However, there was sadness to their faces. _Of course they seem sad. They haven't seen their granddaughter in a year and she has been kidnapped by the cruelest vampires in the world._

"Thank you for the introduction Carlisle. Has there been any word on my Granddaughter?" He looked at each person in the room in the eye. _This guy seems to be used to running the show. Wonder what his deal is._

Leah answered, "We just received word that she is on her way back. She said that she's okay. We weren't given a time frame though." The elder Phiscese's looked greatly relieved. Hannah grabbed Habakkuk's arm.

"She's okay!" Hannah looked like she was going to say something more when she looked at Kelsie. "Tobi? What was that you were reciting when we came in? It sounded familiar."

Leah chuckled slightly as Kelsie gasped. _Apparently she isn't used to being recognized by complete strangers._

"How do you know my name?" Kelsie asked hesitantly and pushed herself farther into Brady's side.

Edward chuckled again, causing several to glare at him. He raised his hands in question. "What? Is it so wrong to think it funny that she is more afraid of people who are less likely to cause her harm than those fighting their instincts to not kill her?" Bella smacked the back of his head.

_Ha-ha._

"Dear, Even used to keep us updated on her life constantly. She loved to tell us stories about your adventures whenever you would spend the night. We have wanted to meet you for a long time." Hannah stood and made her way to Kelsie, whom she pulled into a tight hug. Kelsie returned the hug.

"I go by Kelsie now. I was telling the Cullens and pack about a song Even used to sing to me. The love you more than waves song. When she called Embry's mom, she wanted them to tell me, I-L-Y-M-T-W. That's how she would always say goodnight to me. It was our thing."

Suddenly, Alice gasped and raced out of the house. Everyone turned to try to see her, but she was already out of sight. Jasper reacted fastest, actually following her.

"She saw that the Denali's were almost here and wanted to warn them about the Phiscese. They may not recognize the scent. There was something else on the edge of her leaving, but she wasn't focusing on it." Edward explained to the confused faces of those around.

Carlisle stepped closer to the couches and motioned for everyone to stay. "Habakkuk, Hannah, I would like to introduce my family."

(_somewhere over the Atlantic, closer to America than England)_

"I don't understand, how can you say that you've had a crush on me for years, yet I not know?" Jane repeated for the umpteenth time.

Even sat back in her seat and groaned. Loudly. This conversation had been going on since they left Ireland. They were being just loud enough to be annoying. "He was afraid of you! He had no reason to believe you would be open to a relationship. So instead of setting himself up for failure, he hid his feelings for you. It's not that hard of a concept! Just decide if you like him back or not and move forward, ARGH!"

Demetri and Jane looked at Even startled. She had been fairly even keeled most of the time they had been around her, but after telling someone her story and finally feeling like her prayers went passed her head, she was slowly returning to her normal self.

"O-o-okay. We'll work on that now."

"Thank you."

Even stuck her nose back in the book she was trying to read. _If I had to listen to much more of that, I would rip someone's jaw off._ She flipped several pages back to the last place she actually remembered reading.

Expectantly awaiting touch down, Even was trying to figure out how to keep from telling her story more than once. _If Carlisle is back with Grandfather, that would be best. If not, I'll just procrastinate. Fake illness or exhaustion, something like that. Oh whom am I kidding. I'll never pass that with Edward._

"May I have your attention please? We are about an hour out from the private airstrip in the mid-New Hampshire area. Please be prepared to land within that amount of time. Thank you."

Seemingly, Demetri and Jane ignored the alert. Their heads were close together but they weren't kissing. Jane's body shook with laughter. _Great._

Even coughed. "So, what are you cats going to do now that you aren't with the Volturi? Half of the vampire population is terrified of both of you. Half wants to kill you. The other half you just left."

That caused them to look up. Demetri looked taken aback. "I didn't realize you could have three halves of one whole, but then again, it has been a while since I was in school."

Jane giggled. _What is with that girl? She doesn't seem like a giggler._ "We will just live as nomads. See where that takes us. Who knows? Maybe we'll end up vegetarians living up in the ice caps. And the Volturi do not make up half of the vampire population. Not even a third of it."

"Oh I love how you make plans without me. Thanks a lot love." Demetri's voice couldn't have more sarcasm in it if you triple dipped it.

Jane glared at him. "You just said you would follow me wherever I go. That implies that you are down with me calling the shots. Do you have a pro—"

Even's quiet chuckles interrupted Jane's rant. "Sorry, you said down with me. I haven't heard anyone use that in a while. What are you trying to be? Gangsta?"

Jane huffed in response. Turning back to Demetri, "Do you have a problem with it? Because if you do, speak now so we can work this out. What Even?"

Even was cooing and giggling now. "I need a video camera to record this momentous event! Your first fight, awww."

Jane lunged for Even. The younger girl was unable to move with laughter. Colliding with Even, Jane flew from one side of the plane to the other. Even's limited breath was knocked out of her. She lay on the ground stunned.

Demetri rushed to her. His cold fingers swept gently along her sides, feeling for broken ribs. Even started twitching and swatting his hands away.

"Stop that! It tickles. I'm fine, winded but fine." Even sat up, looked for Jane then spoke again. "Jane, what did I do to upset you so instantly?"

Jane's glare could have melted Antarctica. "What did you do? You not only killed my brother, you laughed at me!" A cruel smile now accompanied the glare.

Even crumpled back to the ground, her eyes squeezing closed with the pain. She had felt something like this before, and much worse than this. She took the pain in silence. Focusing all her thoughts on the floor under her arm, she watched what happened in the third person. _Okay, laughing at an already ticked-off vampire is not the best thing to do. I couldn't see how mad she was._ The pain stopped. Finally able to open her eyes again, Even saw that Demetri was standing in front of Jane holding, no, crushing her to his body.

"Babe, you don't want to do this. Even helped you move on. We are almost in the clear. Ten minutes okay? I know you are thirsty, but don't let that make you unstable."

_Huh, I didn't notice that her eyes weren't so bright anymore. They do look kinda black. _"I'm sorry Jane, I did not mean to offend you. Can we end this adventure on a happy note, or do I need to try my hand at stand-up?"

(Back in New Hampshire)

Everyone but Alice and Jasper were sitting in the living room listening to the story behind the 'I love you' poem.

"So as the mother mermaid was saying good night to her daughter, she started listing different parts of creation that were numerous. For each one not in the sea, the daughter would say, 'But Mommy, I don't know what stars are. I don't know what a tree is.' So the mother finally told of the creatures in the sea. And the waves that are our life source. If there were no waves, that would mean that there are no currents. No currents would mean no fresh water. No fresh water would mean stagnation." Hannah finished.

Seth and the other kids were enthralled by her story telling. Her facial expressions were half the explanation. Embry was also impressed. He had heard several good storytellers, but none had ever been that expressive.

Seeing her grandparents, Embry understood part of Even now. Why bed making would be important to her, why she was fiercely loyal. These people had an air about them that made you want to impress them.

_I'm a Barbie Girl- in a Barbie wooorld._

Embry snatched up his phone. "Sorry, that's Alice." He opened the phone, held it to his chest, and quickly walked outside. Esme's house rule number three: no running in the house unless it's an emergency.

"Hey Ally-Cat. What's going on?" He smirked, waiting for her to ream into him about the nickname.

"_If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times! I do not like to be called Ally-Cat, and I do not like the Barbie girl song! And here I was doing you a favor. I didn't have to call you. ."_

Embry waited two seconds trying to figure out what she said. "Alice, when you talk that fast, even shape-shifters can't hear you."

"_I was trying to be nice. Even's flight is going to land in two minutes at the airfield that crosses our land. Now I can go pick her up, but I thought that you would rather go. If you're going to be mean I'll block your path."_

"I'm sorry Alice; I'll download a new ring tone for you. I'm hanging up now. Good bye."

Embry shut his phone and stripped as soon as he hit the trees. Two minutes would be barely enough time to make it to the airstrip. He passed what seemed like thousands of trees, a few million bushes, and was almost bird-bombed countless times. There was something about a dog the size of a horse racing through the woods at seventy-miles-per-hour that scared the daylights out of birds.

The airstrip came into view three minutes after he left the house. A nice plane was resting on the strip. Sadly, when the winds changed, Embry did not smell the love of his life's fresh sea scent. He smelt the bleach-like scent of vampires. And the scent was familiar. It was Jane and Demetri of the Volturi.

He was going to phase back to human, but now that their suspicions were confirmed there was no way. Growls ripped from his chest as the two mismatched vampires stepped forward.

Then he saw her. His angel. She started to limp down the small staircase, but Demetri turned and carried her down. She smacked the back of his head, laughing.

"I'm not that cripple Mr. Ruiner-Of-My-Day! Put me down this instant."

Jane smirked at the name, but focused on him. She seemed to be deciding whether or not to "injure" him.

_Even if you can hear me please acknowledge me._ Embry thought as loudly as possible, still growling.

Even's head turned rapidly looking for him. Jane pointed to him. Jumping out of Demetri's arms, she limped her way toward him.

Embry burst from the forest. In seconds he flipped her onto his back, hopefully as painlessly as possible. Her fists clutched at his fur tightly, actually pulling part of it out. He turned back toward the forest and started high-tailing it out of there. Sharp pains issued from the hands on his back.

"Where in the world do you think you are going? Hmmm? I haven't said goodbye yet," Even reprimanded sternly.

_I'm getting you out of here before they hurt you worse._

"They aren't going to hurt me. I broke my foot kicking a tree. Now turn around or I will jump off your back and go back myself." The hands on his back loosened, proving that she was not joking.

_If you think I'm going to let you go back there, you are insane. I've been through enough these past few days._ He continued running back through the forest, increasing his speed.

"Embry Gavin Call! You have no say over my life, or my actions!" With that, the slight pressure of her sitting on his back disappeared. He could hear her fall, and begin running back to the clearing.

_ARE YOU CRAZY? YOU COULD HAVE KILLED YOURSELF!_

"If you don't stop yelling I won't be the one dead! You are giving me a headache. Jane, Ruiner, could y'all come to the edge of the clearing that way I don't have to go much further, please?" Her voice was getting further away. "Oh, Embry, you can stay here if you can't be civil."

Embry was fuming, but turned yet again to follow her. He was not letting Even Phiscese out of his sight again. _I'm sorry for yelling, Even, but you scared the crap out of me._

She kept walking. Away from him. The way she was shaking her head, she was thinking something she wasn't telling. He couldn't keep his momentary anger. Not when she thought something might be funny.

_What? Why are you shaking your head like that? What did I say?_ By now his nose was at her back. Carefully, he nosed under Even's arm so that he could support her. She let him.

"Thanks, its just you said I scared the crap out of you. I have just enough of an immature mind to think, obviously not! I can't help it. Most of my human guy friends act really immature. Jane!"

They had made it back to the edge of the forest. Jane and Demetri were waiting for them. Embry could not contain the growl that slipped out. Once Even turned around to glare at him, he stopped.

_Sorry, it is a natural reaction. Tell them that it is only you keeping me from ripping the dude apart and if they try to pull anything, I'm attacking._

Even growled herself. "Quit having Edwardian tendencies. It is unbecoming. They kept me from being killed in Volterra, they won't harm me here." She turned back to her newly made friends. Using a higher-pitched, girly voice she relayed his message. "It is only _me_" she pointed both thumbs at herself "keeping _him_" she switched her thumbs to Embry "from ripping the dude" pointing now at Demetri "apart. And if you" she pointed one thumb at each "try to pull anything, he's attacking first and asking questions later."

_That is not what I said. I said nothing about questions._ He rolled his brown eyes.

"But it sounds more threatening. That is what you were going for right?" Demetri and Jane looked utterly confused.

_Just say your goodbyes and let's go, please._

Even hugged Jane and Demetri tightly. The only way to give a hug. "Keep in touch. I left my secure email on the plane. If you two get married, which you should by the way (you may be immortal but you still should obey the rules), you must let me know immediately! I do wedding music and bridesmaid's duties. Take care of each other! Love ya, be safe, don't get hypnotized, make good choices, don't talk to strangers, never drink the punch, and if a strange guy asks you to go into an empty room with him, don't!"

By this point, Embry became fed up with the situation. He grabbed the back of Even's top with his mouth and began gently pulling her backward. Then Jane had to interrupt him.

"Was that last bit supposed to be the mother's speech? Because I've never had one before. Thank you! Same to you, now Demetri, get her onto the critter's back before he rips her shirt off. Then we're heading out." Jane smiled. Prettily, okay she smiled prettily.

Demetri laughed as Embry growled yet again, this time due to the proximity of the vampire to himself. But, Even was now settled on his back so it wasn't all bad.

_Hang on tight . __

(_Kelsie's point of view)_

"So you're saying that Even drowned when she was ten, and that's how she found out she was a mermaid?" I asked as I snuggled yet deeper into Brady's side. You'd a thought I couldn't be closer twenty minutes ago.

Sitting across from me, Habakkuk chuckled under his breath. "Yes, Even was tubing and it flipped. Her breath was knocked from her, the rope wrapped around her foot, and she was stuck under the boat. Just when she would have passed out, her body took over and she was able to breathe. I came up and helped her unravel her fin. I couldn't help myself from telling her to meet me by the shore after her family was asleep-" He stopped talking when his wife, Hannah elbowed him.

I jumped when Alice's laugh rang out. "New York! Oh wait," she paused for a moment seeing a change. "Dang it. I won't be going to New York, I have to stay home. This is a pack trip." She plopped on the floor and pouted. Jasper sat behind her and tried to comfort her.

Behind them, five new vampires came into the house. Two had a slightly Hispanic look, one looked as white as could be, and two looked like sisters with a slight Western European structure to their faces.

"Alice, you can go to New York anytime you want to. Why pout?" the strawberry-blonde one questioned.

"Because I don't get to see Claire. She is such a blast to shop with! She wants to try on everything."

Everyone but me seemed to know who these yellow-eyed vampires were. I racked my brain, and apparently it showed because next thing I know, Brady is whispering in my ear. I was too distracted to catch what he said at first.

"Huh?" I whispered back.

He chuckled tickling my ear, and causing me to squirm. "I said, those are the Denali's. Tanya is the blonde with straight hair, Kate has curly blonde hair, Garrett is white, Eleazar is the male Hispanic, and Carman his wife. They are pretty cool. Eleazar can tell what type of powers someone might have."

I looked at the dark haired vampire. He looked at me and winked. I expected Brady to growl, flinch, something. But no, he just laughed. Edward came back in the room from trying to force Nessie to eat something that was typical human food. By the look on his face, I'm guessing he failed. By the toast crumbs in his hair, I'm guessing he failed epically. That and the fact Nessie was proclaiming to all who could hear, that life was so unfair!

I started giggling as Edward shook his head at Sonic the Hedgehog speed.

"You may think it's funny, but it really isn't." This caused everyone to laugh. "Eleazar, do you think Kelsie, the human, is a shield?"

The dark vamp was thinking about me? Ut-oh.

"No, I've not seen anything quite like her. She-"

Then I saw the girl I wanted to kill. My cousin was back!

"EVEN! I'm going to kill you!" I jumped up from the couch and raced to my cousin, but of course, I had to trip over a flat surface because that is my luck! They didn't make the category of 'most likely to trip over a shoelace" at my school for nothing.

She wrapped her arms around me. Then she held me at arms length with tears streaming down her face. "I am so sorry for taking off like that. If they have corrupted you in anything I would not approve of I'm killing Emmett." That made me have a hard time staying angry.

"Why am I always blamed?" Emmett complained. But Hannah and Habakkuk were beside Even, the both of them hugging her.

Even cried harder and started saying things like "Granma, Granddaddy." Over and over again. Hannah was crying.

I felt warm arms wrap around me and warmer hands wipe under my eyes, not noticing the tears streaming down my face until then. Someone yelled "Dog pile!" and everyone was crowding Even at once. Then Edward had to ruin the moment.

"Even, if you would please tell everyone what you're thinking it would be much easier on me. You are quite loud right now."

**AN: well, that took me long enough. Only two chapters after this. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. Please review if you have anything to say. If anyone has an idea for a sequel please tell me. I'll see if it sparks a story line in my head.**

**Peace out**

**themonk**


	16. All Around Me

All Around Me

"I can't believe you dated the scuba instructor."

"Kelsie, that is the 48th time you have said that."

"That is because you still won't tell me about it. I always told Lee and Jo that you had a thing for him, but they thought I was being a romantic young teen."

"Urgh." Even glared at her cousin. Kelsie, with her short multihued hair standing up in Alice fashion, had been saying the same phrase over and over again.

Turning to face Even, Kelsie stuck her tongue out. "Besides, bugging you keeps me from thinking about Brady."

Even wrapped her arms around the girl. "Still, it's very annoying. What if I say we'll talk about it away from the house? We could go book shopping or something."

"Yay! And clothes shopping! We need new clothes if we are going to New York City!" Kelsie bounced away, clapping her hands.

As soon as Kelsie had exited the room, Embry walked in and leaned against the door frame.

"So you're going shopping."

Even glared again. "Yes."

"There is a storm coming up. The closest shopping mall isn't exactly the safest. And it is five o'clock." He was monotone.

Even ignored him. She walked to the chest-of-drawers and pulled out some fresh clothes. Then she tried to walk around him to the bathroom, but he blocked her path with his arm. When she tried to duck underneath, he caught her arm.

"I'll drive you and Kelsie there." He was still monotone.

"I am perfectly capable of driving. Let go of me before I rip your hand off." Even's voice was strained in her effort not to scream at him.

In the past two weeks since returning from Italy, Embry had been more than slightly overprotective. If she wanted to take a walk, he was right there. If she stubbed her toe turning a corner, he was right there. If she stood up too fast and became dizzy, he was _right there!_ She couldn't go anywhere without him following her.

In the past two weeks, Alice's visions had become more regular as well. Apparently, Kelsie had the dormant gift of being a neutralizer. Not that it worked on everything, but she somehow cancelled out the hybrids allowing Alice to see Nessie and the shape-shifters.

"I would feel more comfortable if you let me drive you. I don't want you and Kelsie unprotected. Brady asked us all to keep an eye out for her since you won't let her go with him. Besides, you haven't driven in this kind of weather and the storm looks pretty bad. I'll go to the hardware store while you and Kelsie do whatever it is you want." He used a low, pleading tone and raised his eyebrows, causing his face to be quite adorable and puppy-doglike. Too bad he still had hold of Even's arm. All charm was lost.

"Let go." She growled. He quickly dropped his hand. "I do not feel comfortable about this whole thing yet. Kelsie is my responsibility, not some puppy with a moronic wolfy claim to her. And I promised she could go to New York with us. She wouldn't be able to go if she was in Washington."

"That makes no sense. She could come another time. Do you have any idea how difficult it is being away from your imprint? It's torture. You don't know if she's hurt herself, if she's okay, if she's lonely. All the things we are supposed to do we are unable to." Embry spoke with an ever so slight accusatory tone.

"Well that isn't exactly my problem now is it? I didn't cause Brady to imprint Kels. All I did was try to keep her safe from a vengeful vampire. So STOP BLAMING ME!" Even shouted.

"I'm not blaming you! I'm trying to make you understand you stubborn, cocky ungh!" Embry was on the verge of shouting but barely managed to contain it.

"Ungh? Ungh? What, couldn't come up with a proper term? Or were you afraid of what would happen? Are you a scared little puppy?" Ending the sentence in a baby voice, Even stuck her lower lip out.

Embry growled. "I am not afraid of you. Now. Brady asked us to take care of Kelsie. If that means angering you, so be it. You," he poked her chest, "are not going to that mall by yourself. I am going to be in hearing distance. I can either drive you, or run beside you."

"Fine. If you are going to be an obstinate jerk, just leave me alone. I'm tired of you constantly being right there. It's like you hover."

"Okay."

"And you'll leave me alone?" One eyebrow arched high while the other dipped low.

"I…I…yeah. As much as I physically can." Poor Embry's face was slightly contorted as he promised Even.

She smiled brightly. "Good. I'm getting in the shower now." She flounced across the hall to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

oOo

The sun was setting in the West as dark, ominous clouds raced in from the East. The forest was silent, no night birds' songs, no little critters scurrying around. Thick with electricity, the air seemed alive. A lone figure stood at the edge of the forest in front of the house.

The tall man was dressed in all black. His dark blond hair and pale face stood out above the collar of the black leather trench coat that fell past his knees. His face was almost impassive, except for the pain that shown through his cornflower blue eyes.

As he started walking, thunder struck with every step. A child would assume that he was causing the thunder. He quietly, minus the thunderous background, walked up the steps and knocked politely on the door. The door seemingly opened by itself. He jerked back, shocked,

"I'm down here Mister," a high-pitched voice said in a low a pitch as possible.

A small girl stood holding the door open. She had big brown eyes, long, curly bronze hair, and a sarcastic look that no child that small ought to be able to master.

The man raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do your parents know that you are answering the door for strangers?"

She shrugged her small shoulders. "Daddy told me to open the door. He said if you looked like a bad guy I could kick you in the shin. I think you look nice. Not everybody can pull of the trench coat. You look a little like Keanu Reeves from the Matrix, but blond. But it would be cool if you had a katana hidden in your coat like Adrian Paul does in Highlander." She squinted at him, as if she was trying to see a hidden sword in the folds of the coat.

"I can assure you, I am not a blond Keanu Reeves, and I do not have a sword hidden in my coat. How old are you? You seem too young to know those kinds of references." He didn't try to come in yet. This little girl had already won him over.

"I'm two. But I'm still too short. Growing like a weed, but a very small weed. I'm Nessie Cullen." She pushed the door open wider then stepped back.

"Julian Neptus. Two year olds aren't supposed to be tall. It's okay. I'm looking for—"

A deeper voice interrupted. "Go up the stairs, third door on the right, the door is unlocked."

Julian walked into the house and Nessie closed the door behind him. He was greeted by the sight of a young man and woman snuggled together on a piano bench. The man's hair perfectly matched Nessie's.

"Edward and Bella Cullen I presume?"

The woman stood. "Yes. Even is upstairs. Just follow Edward's instructions and you'll find her."

Walking away, Julian headed for the stairs. It had been a little over a year since he had seen Even last. To say he missed her a little was like saying the Amazon was a little wet. He opened the third door on the right to hear Even venting.

"Stupid hover-craft, interrupting my stupid plans. All I wanted was a little bit of away time. But nooooo, he had to just hover into my space. Rngh Rngh Rngh."

"Still having anger issues Vevy?" Julian asked blankly.

"EEEEK!" Even peeked her head around the corner of the shower curtain, blind eyes straining to see who was there. "Be—"

"Don't. You have no right to call me that."

"You called me Vevy. Of course I would reciprocate."

Julian was furious. "What happened. What happened to Connor? To Raya?" Even was silent.

"Tell me!" Julian roared.

"It was standard watch. C-C-C-Connor was complaining about the incessant wedding dress talk then gave the briefest warning before everything went black. When I came to, Raya was dead and Connor" Even gasped, "was being bitten. I killed the vampire. The end."

Julian hit the counter. "That is not the end! Why didn't you come back? Why didn't you tell me what happened? I trusted you!"

Even yelled back, "That's why! You trusted me. I was the group leader. I was supposed to take care of everyone, it was MY job. I failed. I failed them, I failed you, I failed myself. How was I supposed to face you after that? Because of me, you lost everyone that was important to you. Because of me, you lost your twin and girlfriend. How was I supposed to just come back?"

"You should have! Did you honestly think I wouldn't need you? Need your help to grieve? We are supposed to stick together!"

"I couldn't face what had happened myself, how could I help you? I was confused and injured." Even sniffed. "If I had seen you I would have had to face the fact that I had lost everything."

"You didn't!" Julian was stunned. Did she think so little of him? "I'm still here. I know we've had our differences, but gosh, I'm the other part of your team. All for one and one for all. I know you, you would have died for them. Why didn't you come back? Why is it that a year later I'm learning how they died?"

"I was scared. Carlisle says I was in the denial stage of grief for a prolonged period of time. I was in shock. I had just lost my fiancé and my best friend. What if I lost you too? When I got to the house, it wasn't a question of will I go back, it was how do I never remember that life?" Even's had reached out of the shower and tugged in a robe. She stepped out with the robe around her and soaking wet hair. "Can you hand me that towel?"

Julian handed her the towel. "Your hair hasn't been that short since Jack's wedding when it got caught by an octopus."

"Evasion 101, change the hair."

"Even, I need you back. Please." Julian's anger had vanished.

"Can you forgive me? Will you?" Even had her glasses on now and was looking at him.

"There is nothing to forgive. But if there was I would." Julian spoke the age old saying of their people. He then pulled his last living best friend into a tight hug.

Together they walked out of the bathroom down the hall to Even's room. They held on to each other, both waiting for the grief to hit. Just as they entered the bright green bedroom, Embry burst up the stairs.

"I heard you screaming. What's going on?" He huffed.

"Nothing. Just working out some issues."

Embry then saw Julian's hands clasped around Even's waist. "I thought we had an understanding. Who is this guy?" Embry's voice was simmering with anger.

"The only understanding we had was that you would leave me alone. And who he is, is none of your business. Now get out! Gosh." Even left Julian's grasp and pushed Embry out the door and shut it on his face.

They heard a huff, then pounding down the stairs. Below, a door burst of its hinges with the force of Embry's push. Within seconds a howl ripped through the air.

Julian turned Even around to face him. "I take it he is not one of your most favorite people."

Even scoffed. "Not by far. He is like a hovercraft. Always right there. Very annoying. What have you been doing this past year, Bean?"

"You know I hate that name."

"You shouldn't! Bean is one of my favorite book characters. Plus he is like the smartest person ever. Be glad." She smiled one of her brightest smiles.

"Don't you dare pull that look on me. And you don't want to know what I've been doing…" He turned away.

"It has to be better than me. I've done nothing. Absolutely nothing. I've eaten and 'participated' with family events, but not really."

"I was in Ireland. They were the only ones who would put up with me and they even kicked me out two months ago."

"I'm going to kill them. I am going to kill Brigit and Morgana. They are dead meat. Chopped liver. Fried chicken. Sausage!"

Julian laughed, but grabbed the flailing hands of Even. She struggled against his restraining efforts slightly before she laughed as well. Then they threw their arms around each other and held tight.

The moment after, Leah burst into the room. "WHAT IN THE WORLD DID YOU DO?" She was red-faced and her hair looked as if she had tried to rip it out.

The two friends jerked apart as she started screaming. Even backed away from Leah in shock.

"Leah, what's going on?" her tone was quiet, like a negotiator talking to a scared madman.

"Why. Did. Embry. Just. Run. Away." Each syllable was ground out through clamped teeth.

Even harrumphed. "Oh. That. He probably ran because he's a hormonal teenage werewolf that doesn't get that I'm a big girl who can take care of myself." She spoke with attitude and with one hip jerked to the side.

Leah growled. She actually growled. "You stupid idiot!" She shrieked then lunged for Even.

The two girls almost collided, but Julian grabbed Leah in his big burly arms. She calmed the instant he touched her. No, nothing supernatural happened, just the reassuring touch of someone bigger than her.

"Why am I an idiot Leah? What do I not know?" Even had never really been afraid of her friend before.

"You are an idiot because Embry's an idiot! If he had gotten over himself and just told you, you would have been sympathetic. I know you would have." Leah was still angry, but somewhat sad too.

"Leah just tell me." Even was forthright. "Let's sit down."

So they sat on Even's bed with Julian between them. Leah started to talk five times, then stopped trying to figure how to say it. Finally Julian got fed up with it too.

"Just spit it out. She's a big girl she can handle it."

"Embry imprinted on you. He imprinted on you at the wedding and the past two years have been torture to him. It's part of why he joined Jake, Seth and I. He knew that he would hear more information that way than any other. He was so upset most of the time that I found myself telling jokes just to make him a little less sad. Then when the Volturi kidnapped you, it was all we could do to keep him from doing something stupid." She spoke quickly and passionately. "By telling him to get lost, or whatever it was you said, told him that you were rejecting him. He's probably going to try to kill himself now."

Even's heart constricted against her will. She knew that he liked her, but imprinting?

"Are you sure? If this is some ploy to get me to like him, I promise you Leah, you'll wish you were back with Sam."

Leah jerked away this time, hurt. Her face was pure sympathy for both of her friends. "No. But the only way you'll really find out is to get him. Please, you don't know what that would do to the pack mind. It would be devastating."

"Oh, like loosing all of your team due to your own denial? That kind of devastating?" Even threw up her defensive wall of emotions.

Julian grabbed both girls' hands until they calmed down. "Vev, go find Embry get this mess figured out. I know you, if he did kill himself you would feel the blame."

"Fine! I'll go. Let me get some clothes on." Even drew the first big shirt she put her hands on and was assaulted by Embry's sent and memories. She ran down the stairs and out of the house, not heeding that she had neither pants nor shoes. She may not love Embry, but no one else was going to die on her watch.

She saw her adopted family's faces blur by, but she didn't stop to offer any explanation. If she stopped, she wouldn't continue her um, quest of sorts.

"Leah, why did you tell Even that Embry was going to kill himself?" Edward asked as Leah and Julian walked down the stairs.

"Ha, that girl needs him. He's the perfect guy for her. She just doesn't know what's best and she wouldn't have gone after him otherwise. I just provided a catalyst for her." Leah replied smugly.

Julian turned to her with a look of awe.

"What?" Leah returned his awed gaze with a confused one.

"You are either the bravest, or stupidest person on the face of the planet." He voiced disbelievingly.

Edward and Alice both chuckled, causing the rest of the people to chuckle.

"Why?" Leah was getting frustrated now.

"Because, she is going to kill you when she finds out you lied to her."

The forest rushed by her, a smudge of greens and browns. She ran with her hands stretched out to her sides, just barely touching the greenery. With every step, and every touch, she was able to track Embry. It wasn't two minutes before the rain began to pelt her. She felt the trail go south and followed it, but it began to fade.

Startled, Even began calling Embry's name. Her calls soon turned to screams as she tried to out shout the storm. She screamed and ran until she began losing the memories of him.

_Not again. Please not again. I can't have another death on my conscience. _

In desperation she flung herself to the ground to have as much of her sensitive skin exposed to the earth as was descent. Then she began to sing. It was a newer song that surprisingly wasn't one that a mer had given to an artist. The only way that she was able to sing, was the strength she was drawing from the rain.

"My hands are searching for you,

My arms are out-stretched towards you,

I feel you on my fingertips,

My tongue dances behind my lips for you."

She sang with conviction. She dug her fingers into the ground trying to find the final memory of Embry. The rain was washing all the traces away. Forgetting most of the song, she jumped to the end.

"Take my hand,

I give it to you,

Now you own me

All I am,

You said you would

Never leave me,

I believe you,

I believe."

At that moment, while she was singing at the top of her lungs, a warm hand grabbed her cold ones. It took her a moment to realize who it was.

"E-e-e-Embry? I was l-l-looking for you." Her voice shook with the cold.

He pulled her into his arms bridal style. "I heard you. I think New York heard you," he responded with a small chuckle. "Why were you looking for me?"

She refused to meet his gaze. "Because I couldn't handle someone else dying," Even barely whispered.

At that moment, Mother Nature decided to display her full fury. Seven lightning strikes struck simultaneously, with thunder blasting in a reverberant bass. The rain fell in sheets obliterating any visibility. Embry clenched Even tighter to his chest, and to the surprise of them both she snuggled close.

After the briefest of moments, Even pushed away from his chest. When he resisted her, she pulled her head up to his ear and yelled to be heard (or so she thought, Embry could hear her just fine.)

"We need to be under cover. I can take us to a cave about thirty yards from here, but you'll have to put me down."

"You are wearing just my Nickleback shirt and you say we need to be under cover?"

Even hit his chest. "Get your head out of the gutter! We need to find shelter. I can't see your face, and I'm right beside you. If you put me down, I can lead us there."

"Wouldn't the rain wash the trace away? I know you said once that it does," Embry countered.

Even hmphed. "No it won't. The cave is a naturally existing so the trace doesn't fade away. Smarty-pants. Now put me down."

Gently setting her down, Embry kept a hold of Even's hand. She started walking forward toward this 'cave' she knew about. Neither of them could see through the sheeting rain. Their travel was slow, and every so often, Even would drop his hand to climb over an obstacle. Then she would wave her hand wildly, usually hitting him, to lead him forward. They were both soaked through when Even stopped. Embry followed her movement down finding the small opening close to the ground.

"I want you to crawl in first!" She screamed over the storm.

"Why?"

"Number one, I have a slight case of claustrophobia. Number two, I am not wearing pants. There is no way you are following me." She punched his chest.

"Quit being so violent and I will." He grabbed her wrist.

"Fine. Go."

Embry dropped on his stomach keeping his hand on the rock face. Slowly he crawled in, but as his feet began to disappear, he felt a hand on his ankle. He emerged into the cave and quickly discovered he couldn't stand. Even's head popped up a moment later.

"Couldn't you have found a taller cave?"

"Did you want to be struck by lightning?"

"You aren't the one who can't stand."

"I'm not that short, hovercraft."

"Hovercraft?"

They both turned away. Not that they could see, but at least the elements were outside. Even started shaking. Hard. Not only was she freezing, but her claustrophobia was starting to kick into high gear. Embry felt her distress and carefully wrapped his arms around her.

"You okay?" He sounded genuinely concerned.

"Not really. Caves really freak me out. I've never done the enclosed spaces very well." Her voice was minute and scared.

"I've got you. I won't let anything bad happen to you. Stay right here and you'll be warm. Toasty 108 degrees remember?" His voice was calm and calmed her.

"I'm not cold, just scared." She paused for a moment. "Leah told me you were aiming to kill yourself. Because of me."

He sat in silence for a full minute. "No, I wasn't going to kill myself. I'm not that stupid. I still have to keep everyone else sane. And you are too cold, quit being so stubborn."

"Leah's a dead woman. Did she lie about you imprinting on me too?" Even's voice still quivered ever so slightly.

"No." He took a deep breath. "I imprinted on you during Eddie and Bell's wedding. I found out later that Leah knew you. When the Cullens moved out here, I knew I'd have a better chance of contacting you if I was with them. It's been a miserable two years."

Even stiffened. "You jerk. You big, fat, ugly jerk. Why didn't you tell me?"

Scoffing, Embry said, "And you be nice just because your mood sets mine? Because I will never find another you?"

"I think I still had a right to know." She stared at one spot on the black, incomprehensible wall.

"Yeah, and I was stupid. Of course you wouldn't want a guy you barely know trying to be friendly while you're grieving. Seeing you like that, I can't tell you how many times I wanted to take you away from all this." He blindly gestured to the bleak circumstances.

"Why didn't you tell me after it happened?" She slowly relaxed into his arms against her will.

"You were with someone else. And you were happy. That was all I needed, at the time."

They slipped into silence again, each processing their thoughts. The cave shook with the thunder and for the briefest moment light showed at the entrance. Embry rested his chin on Even's head as her shivering slowed.

"Even?" His voice was gentle.

"Yeah?" Hers was sleepy.

"Can I ask you a question?" He was surprised as she chuckled. "What?"

"You just asked two, hovercraft." She replied with mirth.

He mockingly growled at her. "My mom used to baby sit the neighbors' little girls after school, and their favorite movie was the _Little Mermaid_. Are there really half-octopus, half-human creatures down there? Hey."

She smacked him. "No. There has never been such a creature. Why is it that people always ask about that? Ugh."

Embry chuckled until Even planted her elbow into his ribs. "Why are you so violent?"

Even sat in stony silence, refusing to answer.

"I can make you answer me." His voice edged on threatening. She still did not reply.

Seeing as his arms were long enough to wrap around her waist, he slowly started poking the sensitive spot right below her ribs. She jerked to the right, away from his fingers; then left. He continued to poke her until she giggled. When she wouldn't talk still, he lightly ran his dancing fingers up and down both sides.

"Stop! Stop! I'll tell you, whatever you want to know. Just don't do that again." Her chest heaved, heading towards hyperventilation. "You're going to make me hyperventilate."

"I won." His face, had she been able to see it, was jubilant. "If you're a mermaid, why are you able to be on land?"

"That is the number one asked questioned! Come up with something more original." Fingers started counting her ribs again. "Eeep! Fine. We couldn't before Ariel, my great-grandmother, stayed ashore to save my great-grandfather Eric. Her desperation and compassion allowed her to change. Then she married, and they had two kids, Melody and Habakkuk. Melody and her husband got the human kingdom, Grandfather got the mer kingdom. Aunt Mel had the ability to change, as did Grand-A, but Aunt Mel didn't really want to after she was older. Every mer after that was able to change, but it takes a lot of effort to be able to control it."

Embry was shocked. "Your grandfather is as old as Carlisle though, how can that be?"

"Ha. Grandfather is older than Carlisle. By about fifty years. Grand-A was close to two thousand when she died. I did meet her, I knew her for a few months before she died." _Grand-A was the only one outside of Granddaddy and Granma who accepted me at first._

"So, um, I over-heard you telling Kelsie something about, um, powerful seduction? That seems kinda far fetched…" Embry's voice was very, very nervous.

Even snuggled in deeper, and gave a little giggle. "Where do you think the Greek Sirens came from? It's a survival mechanism though some do use it for evil. We just know how to affect the hormone centers in the brain. It can be very helpful when you rescue a ship full of sailors, but you don't want them to know who you are. The mermen have it too. But they affect only women, mermaids only affect men."

"What about the gays? Do the guys affect them too?" He sounded skeptical.

Even laughed out right. "No, at the core, they are still physically attracted to the opposite sex. That is just a mental thing. Anything else?"

Embry hesitated. "Did you and Connor ever…um…" He couldn't finish the question.

Slowly shaking her head, Even answered. "You do have your head in the gutter tonight. No we didn't. We weren't married. Besides I'm not ready to have a kid yet."

"Doing the, um, deed, doesn't mean you'll get pregnant." He sounded rather incredulous.

"When you're mer it does. Survival of the species. Nothing can harm the first pregnancy. It's just how we are designed. Besides, I'm one of those who believes that sex before marriage is wrong." She didn't sound judgmental, or regretful, she just stated the facts. "You?"

"No. My mom was a single mother. I saw what she had to go through, so I promised that I would never do that to a woman. Easiest way is to just not have sex. You should hear the guys ream me about that."

Even thought about moving out of Embry's lap during this part of the conversation, but the second she leaned forward, A: she missed his heat, and B: he pulled her back. She then reached back to bop him on the head.

"Why are you so violent?"

She scoffed. "You saw how big Bean was. Connor was exactly his size. I had to be violent to keep those two in line."

They heard a distinct crash. Embry jumped up, unceremoniously dumping Even on the floor, then banging his head. He started to crawl out of the cave, but was stopped by a tree. A monstrous tree. His head reappeared, not that Even could actually see it.

"What was that about?" Even though it had been seconds, Even was still unnerved by the sudden feeling of loneliness.

"We are trapped. When the rain stops we might can move the tree, but for now, we're stuck."

"W w we're trapped?" Even started hyperventilating. Embry quickly wrapped her in his arms and started whispering nonsensical words to her.

After Even had calmed down slightly, she whispered, "Thank you God for letting Embry be here with me."

"Do you mean that?" Embry sounded skeptical and hopeful at the same time.

"Do I mean what? That I thank God for your being with me right now, or that I believe in God?" She sounded defensive.

"Uh, both." He softened his tone to hopefully take her off the defense.

"I would probably have killed myself by now trying to figure a way out of here if you weren't with me. And how can I not believe in God?" Her tone suggested that it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I don't understand how you can. You turn into a fish, I turn into a wolf, there are vampires. None of that makes sense with God." He mimicked her tone unthinkingly.

Even huffed. "I do not turn into a fish, thank you very much. I have seen creatures that would boggle your mind. I have seen sharks (actual sharks not vamps) turn away when they shouldn't. Everything in my being points me to God. Carlisle believes in Him."

"But it still doesn't make sense."

"It won't always. But when you see some of the things I've seen, you will completely understand. God is just a part of who I am. Do I understand Him all the time? No way. I'd be stupid to try to say that." Even was interrupted by Embry's guffaws.

"You? Stupid? I'd like to see someone argue that efficiently. I guess what I don't understand is how you seem to 'know' God."

"I think it's more that He knows me. He created me, He made me the way I am." She chuckled. "Scales and all. We don't have a memory of when we were created. We just kinda showed up. I think being part animal makes us automatically closer to God, or more aware."

Embry was tense throughout this whole part of their conversation, but Even was as calm as could be. She wasn't freaking out or conscious of what she was doing. She was truly relaxed.

"Okay. New topic. Why do you call your growing chop stick a triton when the actual weapon is a trident?" He sounded so sure that he had her stumped.

"Fine, if you are uncomfortable with God, I'll answer." Even took a deep breath. "At first, the trident was only a weapon, then Grandfather Triton learned to combine vampire venom with the gold and other metals while they were being formed. The names were changed to honor his achievement. We now can kill vampires quicker, more quickly? Whatever, than ever before. It's truly fantastic to be in the ocean, see a shark (the vampire kind) swimming at you close to 50 miles per hour, and whop them over the head, decapitate them, and set them on fire. If you can't get an adrenaline rush off of that, you never will." In the darkness, Embry could just barely make out the faint smile that adorned her face.

"Should I be worried that you sound so happy about that? That you seem to enjoy the violence?" Embry questioned worriedly.

"Probably. Raya always said it wasn't right. No girl should enjoy fighting so much. When I was little I always wanted to be Robin Hood instead of Maid Marion." Even replied shyly.

Embry grunted.

They sat in comfortable silence. Even eventually drifted off. The only thing keeping Embry awake was the fact he had his imprint in his lap. He could tell the storm was over, but he didn't care. Even was sleeping comfortably. What changed this situation, was Jacob yelling.

"Embry! Oh Embry! Come out come out wherever you are!"

Even jerked awake and looked quite adorable in her confusion. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't stay in the cave with her forever. One, he was getting hungry. Two, Kelsie would kill him if he kept Even from going to New York with her.

Embry yelled back, "We're in the cave behind the big tree that fell over."

Even yelled, "Get me out of here before I die of claustrophobia!"

They quickly removed the tree, which was quite large, and the young couple was free. Soaking wet, but free. Having come to an unspoken agreement that they needed each other as friends, the trip to New York was started.

**An: Okay, so having pneumonia, writer's block and a bad case of school-work-itis, seriously hampered my getting this chapter out. Love it, hate it, it is what it is. It is the last chapter from the end.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any known characters or recognizable features. I do own a stereo that has a broken cd player. Oh well.**


	17. Right Back in the Water

**Disclaimer: the author of this short story doesn't own anything related to it except her own ideas.**

Right Back in the Water

(two days since the last chapter- in NYC now )

Even felt at ease. For the first time in a long time, she didn't feel as if she had to watch every thought, emotion or action. She could be up front with people, tell them if she was having a problem, or tell them if she was happy. She didn't have to act anymore. In the two days she had been in New York with the Strikers (aka, Claire's Family), she and Celestine had talked extensively.

"So, you mentioned yesterday that you've been here before. Do you mind telling me what happened? You seemed perturbed and slightly amused when you mentioned it."

They were sitting at the kitchen table at six in the morning. The tea and coffee cups had aromatic steam rising from the rims. Even paused before answering, listening for signs of life. Everyone was still asleep. Unless Embry was fooling her yet again.

"I was here on a mission a year and a half ago. We were providing security for a Cuban diplomat while he was visiting the UN. None of us liked him, but we were commissioned and he was from our region. We had such fun messing with him. We would move things, but tell him we hadn't, we would influence his dreams. But, he kept trying to "convince" Raya and I to um, give him favors." Even paused shuddering.

"Oh that is awful! I would have kicked his—oops. I'm trying to stop cussing. Sorry." Celestine interrupted.

Even chuckled. "It's okay. If we hadn't been on duty we would have. But, he left thinking he was going insane. We did get to see Broadway plays. And eat at the different eateries. And oh the Libraries! I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. It was pure bliss."

A laugh burst not only from Celestine, but from Embry, who had snuck down the hall, too. Even's face was spaced out, and she had this dopey smile that made her look drugged or drunk or rather, both. Sadly, for Embry, he was caught.

"Embry. Gavin. Call. This is an A-B conversation, so C you later." Even glared at her, um, yeah.

"Even, If-I-knew-your-middle-name-I'd-say-it, Phicese. That has to be the lamest come back ever. What are you, a fourth grader?" Embry smirked.

_How, how, how, in the world, does he manage to smirk like that? I want to just kiss if off. Oh crap. I did not just think that._ Sadly for our dear heroine, her face betrayed her.

"You just thought about kissing me didn't you?" Even tried for a poker face. "Holy crap you did!" Embry's day was just made. Maybe, even, his whole month.

Even growled. "Wipe that smile off your face and go take a long, cold shower." Her tone left no room for argument.

He saluted her while walking backwards trying to pucker, but failing due to his laughter.

_Dang, how can he make walking backwards attractive?_ Even thought absently. _Oh crap! Not again, this imprinting thing is a pain in the butt!_

"You're thinking about him aren't you." Celestine stated more than questioned, all with a knowing smirk on her face.

Even just glared before smacking her head on the table, upsetting the hot drinks. Celestine motherly patted her back.

"I grew up on the legends same as Emily, my sister. I never believed them. I moved away for college, got married, and visited my sister while she was beginning to plan her wedding. Claire was two. Adorable little thing, probably smaller than Sam's bicep. I believed the legends when Quil walked in and I saw his face light up a split second before Sam walked in and wrestled him out of the house. When he came back in a few minutes later, I asked what was wrong even though I already knew. Sam looked really guilty. Thankfully, Emily had a camera ready because Sam's face was priceless when I flat-out told him that Quil had imprinted on my baby girl and I was going to be killing me some Quileutes." Celestine giggled at the memory and wrested her hand on Even's shoulder, who was now looking at her. "He actually backed away and said 'Yes ma'am.'"

Even smiled, then sighed. "How do you do it? How do you deal with the imprint? I know it's not you directly, but I'm at a total loss here. Everyone I've talked to says oh it's great, it's wonderful. No it's not! I'm a very independent woman, who is just beginning to face the fact that her life partner is dead." Tears formed in her eyes.

Wrapping her arms around the younger woman, Celestine just rocked. She let Even settle before speaking. The house was still quite minus the sound of Embry's shower. Even's breath slowed from shuddering, to an occasional hiccup.

"I can't tell you. It's day by day. I hate that my daughter's life is planned out. I hate that part of why we haven't had more kids yet. We don't want more of our daughters being imprintees. I hate the way Claire's eyes look when Quil isn't with her. Transversely I hate the way they light up when he comes over. No one else understands either. Not even Bella and Edward." Celestine sighed. "At least we can be miserable together."

"Ha-ha, yeah, there's that. I think the hardest part is I'm actually attracted to him. He's tall, buzzed, buff. Ah, I don't want to think like that! It's like I'm betraying Connor. Can I be three again? I'd even settle for four. Just a time when it was okay to have guy friends, you didn't have to try on clothes, and death was a foreign concept."

A different hand clasped Even's shoulder. A warm, strong, reassuring hand. Celestine slipped her arms away from Even and Embry's replaced them. Even was crying again. He held her and wished too, that death was a foreign concept.

(later that day)

"Claire-bear, you have to eat. Please, you're going to get sick if you don't." Quil begged his five year-old imprint.

"No. If Nessie doesn't have to eat, I don't either," she replied defiantly. Now remember, she's five, pigtails, missing front teeth, Dora the Explorer jumper on, add in a defiant attitude, well, it's amazing that the whole restaurant didn't burst out laughing.

Jacob replied, talking at Nessie. "Nessie does have to eat. She is just being stubborn."

Nessie's dislike of food hadn't abated as she aged, though she did learn to like animal blood better. Nessie was dressed very similarly to Claire, but no missing teeth. They were sitting at hole-in-the wall diner. It was a quaint little place, and they took up half of it. Kelsie had tried to talk the younger girls into eating, Leah threatening, and Seth tried to get them to race him. The waitress even tried to help, to no avail.

Even sent Kelsie a text asking her to take the girls to the bathroom. While they were cone she ordered them hot dogs, no bun, ketchup on the side. The waitress had no problem with this until Even started her special instructions. She asked that each hot dog be cut in half short wise and the flat ends be cut half way if the dog so that there were eight "legs". She also requested to be discretely notified before the food was to be brought out. The girls came back knowing something was up, and receiving the signal, even escaped to the bathroom.

Now, if you had been attacked by an octopus, almost had your face sucked off, your boyfriend had to stab the thing making the only way you survived was to have octopus guts covering you from head to toe, you would most likely have this reaction.

Even walked back to the table. As soon as she saw the "octopi" untouched in front of the girls, she (in a lower register, so as to not hurt any ears) screamed, jumped over Leah, and buried herself in Embry's side. Succeeding in frightening everyone in the diner. Embry did all he could to calm her down but she wouldn't come from under his arm. Finally, after much coaxing, he was able to find out what was wrong.

"Even says that you have octopi on your plates, and she can't get out of her 'safe place' until they've been eaten. Apparently that's the only way to be sure that they're dead." Embry snuck enough of a hint of urgency that the girls dug in without question.

Much to the credit of the others, no one laughed as the girls were eating. Unable to ignore the imploring glances of her companions, Even stated, "It takes a picky eater to know one. At least they don't get peanut butter in their hair."

"Oh, you so have to explain that one Vev." Leah replied. "It sounds like a good story."

Even huffed. "Okay, first off, you need to know some background on my people. Your average soldier does typical soldiery stuff, boarder control, police work, and untangling dolphins from fish nets. Then you have Ambassadors. We get to do most of the land missions. They range from assassination to zoologist consultation. Right after I got back from my first Ambassador mission, to attend your parents wedding, Ness, we were assigned to be a protection detail. The man was a scientist and he had five kids, under five. They were adorable! Cute curly red hair, freckles across their little noses. Just adorable. Well, the kids had an obsession with peanut butter. All day, every day, they would only eat peanut butter. We watched and watched, but every time after they ate peanut butter was on the chairs, their pants, and the back of their heads! We had to bathe them after every meal." Even took a shuddering breath and shook her head. "They were picking apart their sandwiches and getting their hands covered in peanut butter. Then they would get up, or scratch their heads. Mystery solved." Even furrowed her brows. "We left before they stopped eating that way. Wonder if the parents ever got them to stop?"

Leah and Kelsie were cracking up, but the boys though it was utterly ridiculous. As soon as the girls finished their food, the group left to cross town and eat again. Only Leah and the guys this time. They would stop at close to three shops per meal. It kept suspicions away.

"Can we go home now? Pleeeeaaasseeee?" Nessie and Claire whined together to their imprints.

Jake and Quil tried, they really did, but they were no match for the puppy dog face. On the last visit, Claire had perfected the look from Emily, and Nessie had learned from Alice, Kate, and Rosalie. Oddly enough, both had been under the tutelage of Leah. They headed back to the apartment, the guys plotting their next day's adventures.

Walking with her hands braced on Embry's back, Even's head rested between the wide of his shoulder blades with her eyes closed. "Will you go with me early tomorrow morning? I need to do some major grocery shopping, and it will be slightly difficult to get one of the items on my list."

Embry was just pleased she was talking to him. If she asked him to dress up as a Scottish warrior and yell at the top of his lungs in the middle of Madison Square Garden, he would. "Sure."

(the next morning)

Even did not remember going to sleep. She did not remember making it back to the apartment. She did remember walking behind Embry, letting him lead her. Yes, it was an awkward way to walk, but less harmful when you can't keep your eyes open and less embarrassing than being carried.

_Oh. Crap. I don't remember coming back. Calm down, don't panic. Deeeeeep breath. So I either sleep-walked in, or Embry carried me. I can live with that. I hope._

_WAHNG! WAHNG! WAHNG! CRUNCH-SH!_

Someone else slapped the alarm clock across the room. The poor thing didn't have a chance, it was smacked with a force that has crumpled vampires. It was then that Even realized she was snuggled in someone's arms. She opened her eyes and was rolled under and to the opposite side of the massive Embry. She was fuming.

"EMBRY GAVIN CALL!" She yelled and beat on his chest.

Very, very sleepily, he replied, "Five more minutes! I get five more minutes." Only it sounded more like "Fi moh minnies, I moh minnies."

Even tried to pull free, but he wouldn't let go. She tickled, he crushed her to him harder. She hit him, he grunted. She blew in his ear, he turned her over. She struggled to roll back over. He had his five minutes now. She had run out of ideas and didn't really want to wake the whole house up, ruining her surprise. She hated resorting to this, but she did not fancy the idea of dying by heat stroke when she'd survived so much, plus her bladder was awake now.

She worked up her courage and weaseled herself up to his face. Slowly bending down, she gently kissed his cheek. He sighed and squeezed the arm around her waist. _Great, now I'm more stuck._ She tensed, then leaned down again, this time kissing him square on the mouth. Embry's eyes opened in a hurry. He saw that it was in fact Even, and kissed her back.

Even's escape attempt turned into a full-fledged snog section. Oh, get your minds out of the gutter, they were just kissing. Even pulled back breathless, then backhanded Embry's face.

"You jerk! I was just trying to wake you up so I could get up." She whisper-yelled.

"You were kissing me; of course I'm going to kiss back! I'm a guy after all." He replied in a 'duh' tone of voice. "That does not equate me with a jerk. You didn't have to man-handle me either."

"That wasn't man-handling. That was woman-handling. If you want me to man-handle you, give me a bat." Even was upset, not really with him though. She was upset with herself because she liked it.

"I'm sorry. What was I supposed to think when you start kissing me like that though? I was asleep woman." He gently rubbed his jaw. All he could think about truly, was the kiss and how much he wanted to kiss her again.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry too." She didn't really sound like she was. "This wouldn't be a problem if you weren't in my bed. How pray tell, does this constitute as taking it slow?"

"We were walking home last night, you asked me to go grocery shopping with you early today with your head resting on my back. Next thing I know, you've stopped walking and falling to plant your face on the sidewalk. I carried you back to the house and Leah put you in pj's. I tried to leave you, but yet again, you wouldn't let go." He paused to laugh and sit up. "You may not like me consciously, but subconsciously, you can't get enough of me." His mouth turned up in a proud grin.

_So I did pass out asleep. This is not fair! Stupid subconscious._

He looked at her like she'd grown a third eye. "Why do you look like you're arguing with yourself?"

"Because I am probably. I've been trying not to school my features so much, guess I need to find a happy medium." She moved to get out of the bed. His arms wrapped around her again, pulling her back into the bed.

"Just where do you think you are going Missy-priss?" His voice was jovial.

She looked at him incredulously. "It takes a lot of muffin mixes and time to make sisty muffins twelve at a time. And we still have to find the prize I have planned."

"You didn't mention breakfast! Let's go." He pushed himself up, keeping her in his arms, and grabbled each of them jeans and t-shirts from their bags. She struggled against him giggling the entire time at the absurdity of his actions.

He finally dropped her off in the bathroom. They both quickly changed in separate rooms, and after Even was ready to face the day, they headed out. Even was in search of blueberry muffin mixes. If she were lucky enough to find Save-A-Lot's brand, that would be delightful, but another would work. Walking to the nearest corner grocer, they didn't say a word.

Upon entering, Embry inquired about drinks. He went off to order a venti-Chai tea, and a black coffee. Even found the muffin mixes and quickly grabbed five after checking the servings. They reconnected at the checkout.

"So, we have drinks, we have muffins, what do we need now?" Embry asked. Even took a sip of her drink, only to spew it out. He handed her the wrong cup. She glared at him as he not only took the bags, but swapped drinks too. "Sorry." He pulled the pout.

"We still have to find stuffed muffins." Even continued to walk following the flow of New York sidewalk traffic. Embry did not. Thankfully his height and her bright red hair, he didn't lose her, but couldn't catch up for five full minutes.

He grabbed her arm the second he finally, finally, finally caught up to her. "This is now my hand. I'm not letting go of it until we get back to the apartment. I can't trust my eyes to keep up with you shorty. Oh, and what, pray tell, is a stuffed muffin?"

Laughing, but letting her hand stay firmly clasped in his (the bag of mixes were dangling from both their hands) Even replied. "Stuffed muffins, you know like stuffed bears. My cousin has one. We are searching every store until we find two, one for each girl. If _you_ can't keep up with me, Hovercraft, we have problems."

It took them twenty minutes to find the toy store, as in AFO Schmidt. Add in another five to find a clerk and the stuffed muffins. They were adorable! The circumference was one foot, and they were close to a foot and a half tall. Little arms stuck out the sides as well as having a little nose, little eyes, a little mouth and little shoes poking out from the front. Like cupcakes, one's wrapper was fluorescent pink while the other was bright purple.

The trip back to the apartment was worry free. They talked a little about their childhood, pets, that sort of thing. Swapped a vampire story each; Even was up for more, but Embry was getting too tense. Once they got to the apartment, it took an hour and a half to make all the muffins. By that time all the occupants were awake and crowding the kitchen.

Everyone was scarffing the muffins down, though Nessie and Claire only took one each. The minute they saw the stuffed muffins they were willing to do whatever it took to earn it. It was a comical sight for those who knew Nessie well. When she was around Claire, she was closer to acting her age.

They toured New York City, visiting Lady Liberty, and all the other exciting attractions. There was a slightly tense moment when Nessie went missing. (She decided she needed to see the view from the outside of the crown and slipped out of sight. Even used her gift to find the mischievous minor.)

At one of the draw bridges, they enjoyed vender lunches. The younger girls were watching the boats going by and the older adventurers were watching them carefully. It was a beautiful day and several people were enjoying the time in the sunshine. Everything was going beautifully. Leah would not stop asking questions about Julian (Bean).

"Leah, I'll give you his number and you can stalk him yourself! Good grief. I can't tell you anymore without having to sleep with one eye open." Even laughed the words out. They noticed in the periphery that everyone was walking away from the bridge but thought little about it.

That is, they thought little about it until Nessie came running up screaming that Claire was about to fall!

Even immediately jumped into action. She saw Claire hanging onto a bar on the side of the bridge and the bridge slowly rising up. Her shoes were off in a split second and she shouted four words. "Hold him back. Down." The first were directed at the rest of the pack in regards to Quil. The last was screamed at Embry who was the closest to the side of the bridge.

Even ran and vaulted off Embry's back over the edge. When she did, Claire lost her grip and the whole crowd gasped. Angling her body towards the screaming child, Even quickly caught up to her and crushed the girl to her chest. She had enough time to say, "Don't breath" before they hit the water.

The velocity of the fall sent them plummeting to the river bed. Even automatically changed from human to mer. Once she did, she and Claire were able to breathe. The ordeal wasn't over however. A large barge was coming at them quickly. The only safe place to go was down. Even swam as fast as she could forward, to the right bank, and down. One hand grazed the bottom until she found something to hold on to. Covering Claire with her own body, she was immediately taken to a past time. Apparently she had grabbed the long dead, and partially missing remains of an Italian mobster. Seeing his last thoughts was discombobulating.

"_Hey! It's a mermaid! There hasn't been one of those in here in a while. Can I help?"_ A small fish thought rather coherently as it past the two.

Speaking to the fish, Even replied, "Yes! Go to the headquarters and tell them I need a memory modification here pronto!" The little fish scurried away.

As the barge past over them, Even could just faintly hear someone screaming for help. _Oh please don't. That'll make it more difficult._ Even let go of the bone, (_They weren't kidding about cement shoes)_ and swam to the surface.

Embry and Quil were waiting at the bank. Both girls were wrapped in hugs that were better than warm blankets. Even saw different police officers talking to all the crowd, and recognized all of them. Another day under mer-protocol.

"Claire, what happened? How did you get off the bridge?" Quil was barely containing his terror.

"I'm s-s-s-sorry Quil. I dropped my m-m-m-muffin. I was trying to catch it and I fell over." She broke down in tears and snuggled close to his chest.

The rest of the pack gathered close, along with one of the officers. Embry was whispering nonsense in Even's ear. Even grabbed Embry's face so he was looking her in the eye.

"Stop that. It's fine. We are both okay. That was a drop in the bucket compared to what I've had to do. I promise."

The officer held out his hand in greeting. "Nice to see you again Ambassador Phicese. I was worried about you."

Even's face lit with recognition. "General Fleettail! It is a pleasure. I'm sorry for the absence. Sometimes you just don't know how to deal." She turned to Embry. "Embry, this is the man that taught me just about every thing I know."

"It's good to know you're back. I always told you it's best to get right back in the water."

**It's the last chapter! (goes off to corner and weeps)…..(comes back.) Well, here we go, the last chapter and it's been fun. There may be a sequel, I don't know yet. I have lots of ideas for Even, Connor, Raya, and Bean/Julian, but I don't have a plan yet. I've enjoyed the trip!**


End file.
